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| ‘The promise of oil wealth is sharpening appetites’ Mauritania statistics Capital: Nouakchott Area: 1,030,700 square km Terrain: 90% desert Population: 2.7 million Annual population growth: 2% Population density: 2.5 per square km Human Development Index rank: 152 (of 177) Population living below the poverty line: 46.3 % Life expectancy at birth: 52 years Infant mortality rate: 120 per 1000 HIV prevalence rate: 0.6 % Literacy rate: 51.2% (men 59.5% ; women 43.4%) GDP: $1.2bn GDP per capita (purchasing power parity): $1,776 GNP per capita: $420 External debt: $2.2bn Growth rate: 6.6% Landlines and mobile phones per capita: 1 per 141.4 Main trading partners: Algeria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Brazil, China, France Currency: the ouguiya ($1 = 263.51 ouguiya) Main resources: mining and industry (30%) : iron ore, gypsum agriculture (24%): livestock, rice, sorghum, maize, - fishing (octopus) tourism Foreign aid per capita: $85.20 Sources: World Bank; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
See also Mauritania after the coup, by Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou Mauritania: a chronology
English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen - all rights reserved © 1997-2005 Le Monde diplomatique.