Mauritania is a poor country situated in northwestern Africa, with part of its western border acting as a coastline for the North Atlantic Ocean.
Nouakchott means place of the winds. Its climate is hot desert with average high temperatures around 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius). Nouakchott’s average annual rainfall is just 3.7 inches (95 millimeters).
Research website numbeo lacks sufficient data to rank Nouakchott on its comprehensive global quality of life rating which benchmarks 250 cities worldwide. Numbeo does evaluate Mauritania on several individual factors. Specifically, Mauritania scored relatively poorly for health care (lowest 1%), pollution (bottom 21%), safety (lower 27%).
From an international trade perspective, Mauritania exported an estimated US$2.9 billion worth of products around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports include iron ores and concentrates (31% of Mauritania’s global total), gold (21.6%), molluscs (17.8%), frozen fish excluding fillets (13.7%), copper ores and concentrates (6.8%), fish flours, meals and pellets (4.7%), seafood fats and oils (1.4%), iron oxides and hydroxides (0.9%), and fresh or chilled fish excluding fillets (0.7%) according to the International Trade Centre.
Capital Facts for Nouakchott, Mauritania: Quick Reference
Geography
Capital landmarks: Fishing port, Saudi mosque, Gallery Zeinart of African art and the Olympic Stadium
Famous People
Below, you will find 10 of the most famous people born in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
- Moustapha Sall, national soccer team head coach (born May 31, 1967)
- Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, diplomat & politician (born Nov. 9, 1960)
- Dominique Da Sylva, soccer/football player (born Aug. 16, 1989)
- Jidou El-Moctar, Olympic runner (born Jul. 8, 1985)
- Bilal Sidibé, soccer/football player (born Dec. 31, 1978)
- Dahmed Ould Teguedi, soccer/football player (born Nov. 15, 1984)
- Aicha Fall, Olympic runner (born Dec. 31, 1993)
- Oumar N’Diaye, soccer/football player (born Dec. 9, 1988)
- Youba Hmeida, Olympic runner (born Jan. 1, 1976)
- Gerardo Miranda, soccer/football player (born Nov. 16, 1956)
Note: Data for our Famous People tab was sourced from Google searches mostly targeting published Wikipedia articles specific to each person’s name.
Population
Demonym for a Nouakchott resident: Mauritanian
Population: 661,400 (Nouakchott) at September 3, 2020
Density: 1,654 people per square mile (661 per square kilometer)
Population: 4,672,216 (Mauritania) at September 3, 2020
Density: 12 people per square mile (5 per square kilometer)
Median age for all Mauritania: 20.1 years old
Financial
GDP: US$19.811 billion in 2019 (Mauritania)
GDP per person: $4,881
Note: The above country-level GDP metrics are on a Purchasing Power Parity basis and are in U.S. dollars. Credible city GDP statistics for Nouakchott were unavailable.
Official currency used in Nouakchott: Mauritanian ouguiya
Research
Research Sources:
Brookings Institution, Global Metro Monitor Report (includes GDP data).
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Field Listing: Major Urban Areas.
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Field Listing: Major Urban Areas – Population, Central Intelligence Agency.
CityMetric, Where are largest cities in the world? 2015 edition.
Demographia, World Urban Area, 12th Annual Edition.
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases.
International Trade Centre, Trade Map.
Numbeo, Quality of Life Index by City.
Official Government Website, U.S. Embassy in Mauritania.
Wikimedia Commons, City Flags.
Note: Some city flags were unavailable. If so, attribution belongs to Wikimedia Commons for pertinent country flags.
Wikipedia, List of countries and territories by population density.
Wikipedia, Nouakchott.
Wikipedia, Mauritania.
WorldOMeter, Mauritania Population.
Mauritanians celebrate Independence Day each November 28 since that date 1960 when Mauritania broke free from France.
Nouakchott had an estimated population of 661,400 residents at September 2020, living in a land area measuring 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometers).
At the country level, Mauritania’s land area contains 397,955 square miles (1,030,700 square kilometers) and is home to 4.7 million people.
Population density is more concentrated within Mauritania’s capital city Nouakchott, averaging 1,654 residents per square mile (661 per square kilometer).
Zooming out to Mauritania’s overall land boundaries, population density drops to 12 Mauritanians per square mile (5 per square kilometer).
