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Mauritania
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Mauritania is a sparsely populated country at the western extremity of the Saharan desert. Only the southern extremity supports rain-fed vegetation (more than 90 percent of the land surface is desert, with less than 200 mm rainfall per year). The population was estimated at 2.6 million in 1999, with a growth rate of 2.7 percent per year. At independence in 1960, Mauritania was essentially a nomadic society and only 5 percent of the population lived in urban conglomerations. Due to heavy rural-urban migration, particularly over the last decade, more than half the population now lives in urban centers. Mauritania's ethnic mix reflects the country's geographical position, comprising about 50 percent Moors and 50 percent black Africans.
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Mauritania is a vast Sahelo-Saharan country, predominantly Saharan, covering 1,030,000 km2. It is in the north-west of Africa between 15° and 27°N and 5° and 17° West. In the north it borders with Morocco and Algeria, to the west with Mali, to the south with Senegal, and to the west with the Atlantic Ocean (Figure 1). The latest census found 2, 548, 157 inhabitants (Ould Ekeïbed, 2001) living on less than forty percent of the country (according to the World Factbook the estimated population of July 2006 was 3,177,388 with a growth rate of 2.88%). Three quarters of the country is covered by the Sahara desert, the remainder belongs to the Sahelian zone.
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Most of Mauritania has a Saharan climate, being hot and windy with little or absolutely no rain. The strong desert winds appear in March and April. However, the coastal area has a milder climate, being relieved by pleasant sea-breezes. Daytime temperatures in the desert are usually above 38°C (100°F), but in the cooler season the daytime desert temperature can average around 24°C (75°F). Less then 100mm (4 in) of rain falls in the desert annually. In Nouakchott, Temperatures reach about 33°C (92°F) in the hottest months and average about 13°C (56°F) in the coolest month.
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Mauritania has three major geographic and climatic areas. The northern Sahara region is more than 65 percent of the country. Covered by arid plains, plateaus, and sand dunes, it receives almost no rainfall and is subject to severe fluctuations in temperature. To its south is the Sahel, a wide area consisting of steppes and meadows. On Mauritania's southern border is the Senegal River region, a narrow strip of cooler temperatures and higher rainfall that supports considerable plant life.
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The inability of the Daddah regime to extricate Mauritania from its economic problems and the war led to a military coup d'état in July 1978. During the next six years the country was ruled by military regimes whose efforts to remain outside the Western Sahara conflict were impeded by the continuing war between Morocco and the Polisario which spilled over into Mauritania's northern regions. The most durable of the military regimes during that period was led by Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla who assumed power in May 1979. It survived as long as it did because Haidalla skillfully balanced the factions in his government which included nationalists adherents of the Western Sahara liberation cause and proponents of close ties with Morocco. Toward the end of his regime ... Haidalla began to arrogate authority at the expense of the other members of the ruling body the Military Committee for National Salvation. Some of these decisions concerned highly charged political issues such as the recognition of the Polisario's governing arm the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
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From the beginning of mining operations in 1963, Mauritania's production and export of iron ore rose constantly for a decade. In 1974 ore exports reached their all-time high of 11.7 million tons (see fig. 7). In the following year, with falling demand for steel in Western Europe, Mauritania's exports of iron ore declined by more than 25 percent, to 8.7 million tons. Between 1975 and 1987, iron ore exports averaged 8.5 million tons annually. Between 1976 and 1978, attacks on the rail line by the Polisario (see Glossary) exacerbated the situation.
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