Islamic Republic of Mauritania | 06 Dec 2019

Why in News

  • Recently, a boat capsized near Mauritania’s coast. Between 2005 and 2010, thousands have died off Mauritania’s coast in attempts to reach the Canary Islands (Spain).
  • Mauritania is located on the Atlantic coast of Africa and is bounded to the northwest by Western Sahara, to the northeast by Algeria, to the east and southeast by Mali and to the southwest by Senegal.
  • It is the eleventh largest country of the continent and consists of desert largely.
  • The capital is Nouakchott and it got independence from France on 28 November 1960.
  • It has Arab-Berber population to the north and black Africans to the south and Arabic and French are the prominent languages.
  • It is a member of the United Nations and the African Union.
  • In the Human Development Index 2018, it was at rank 159.
  • The most prominent feature of this region is the Guelb er Richat, also known as the Eye of the Sahara, which is a deeply eroded dome consisting of a variety of intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks.

Source: TH