<text><span class="style42"></span><span class="style12">MAURITANIA</span><span class="style14"></span><span class="style42">Official name:</span><span class="style13"> Jumhuriyat Muritaniya al-Islamiya (Islamic Republic of Mauritania)</span><span class="style42">Member of: </span><span class="style13">UN, OAU, Arab League</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">1030700 km2 (397950 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">2170000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Nouakchott 393000 (1988 census)</span><span class="style42">Languages: </span><span class="style13">Arabic (official; 81%), French</span><span class="style42">Religion: </span><span class="style13">Sunni Islam (official; 99%)</span><span class="style42">GOVERNMENT</span><span class="style13">A President is elected by universal adult suffrage for six years and a 79-member National Assembly is elected for five years. A 56-member Senate (upper house) is elected for six years by municipal leaders. The President appoints a Prime Minister and a Council of Ministers.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style4"></span><span class="style13">Isolated peaks – including Kediet Ijill (915 m / 3050 ft) – rise above the plateau of the Sahara Desert that cover most of Mauritania. </span><span class="style42">Principal river: </span><span class="style13">Sénégal 1641 km (1020 mi). </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">The climate is hot and dry, with adequate rainfall only in the south.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">Persistent drought has devastated the nomads’ herds of cattle and sheep. Fish from the Atlantic and iron ore are virtually the only exports. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">Ouguiya.</span><span class="style42">HISTORY</span><span class="style13">The French arrived on the coast in the 17th century, but did not annex the Arab emirates inland until 1903. Mauritania became independent in 1960. When Spain withdrew from the Western Sahara (1976), Morocco and Mauritania divided the territory between them, but Mauritania could not defeat the Polisario guerrillas fighting for Sahrawi independence and gave up its claim (1979). Tension between the dominant Arab north and Black African south led to violence in 1989. Military rulers held power from 1979. In 1992 free elections were held, but the opposition boycotted the poll.</span></text>