Country Information
Founded: 1076
Independence (from French control): 1960
Land Area: 1,030,700 Square Kilometers (almost 3 times the size of New Mexico)
Climate: Desert
Agricultural Land Usability: <1%
Natural Hazards: hot, dry and dust-laden windstorms in Spring, periodic droughts
Environmental issues: soil erosion, desertification, limited fresh water resources away from Senegal River, heavy locust infestation
The People
Population: 3,177,388
Infant Mortality Rate: 12 deaths / 1000 births
Life Expectancy: 53 years
Major Diseases: very high risk bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, malaria, Rift Valley Fever (limited locations), meningococcal meningitis
Religions: 100% Muslim
Literacy Rate: 42% (30% for women)
Unemployment rate: 20%
Population below the UN-established Poverty Line: 40%
Special Conditions
Slave trading still very prominent, though no evidence exists that it is for the purposes of any sort a majority of those trafficked are children used for various stages of labor, domestic servitude and hierarchal begging.
Identifying the Need
Education is a massive problem; in a country where less than one percent of the land is usable half the population still tries to scratch out a living through agriculture. Vocational training programs could provide various essential options for earning an income and growing the economy overall.
How The Zakat Foundation Has Responded
Udhiya / Qurbani distribution
In 2006 our programs for Eid ul-Adha expanded to include the country of Mauritania. The rift between the wealthy coastal cities and the impoverished outlying area is severe. The meat distribution was welcomed and appreciated here more than in other nations as Mauritania’s poor have been forgotten by most of the world.
