What is the population of Mauritania?
Mauritania has 5.3 million people (2025). Since 1960, the population has grown from 824,298 to 5.3 million, 6.4 times the 1960 figure.
Population by decade
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 824,298 |
| 1970 | 1,099,806 |
| 1980 | 1,474,043 |
| 1990 | 1,951,878 |
| 2000 | 2,613,441 |
| 2010 | 3,390,965 |
| 2020 | 4,600,131 |
| 2025 | 5,315,065 |
What is the capital of Mauritania?
The capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott.
What currency does Mauritania use?
Mauritania uses the Mauritanian ouguiya (MRU).
What language is spoken in Mauritania?
The official language of Mauritania is Arabic.
Where is Mauritania?
Mauritania is in Africa.
Location on the map
Neighboring countries
Countries that border this country:
How big is Mauritania?
Mauritania covers 1,030,700 km² (397,955 sq mi). The United States is about 9.5 times as large.
Economy of Mauritania
- Gross domestic product (GDP)
- $11.7 billion
- GDP per person
- $2,198
- Life expectancy
- 68.7 years
Data: World Bank (GDP 2025, GDP per person 2025, life expectancy 2024)
Economic development
Income group World Bank classification
Based on economic indicators, Mauritania is classified as lower middle income. Lower-middle-income countries have a gross national income per person between $1,146 and $4,515.
Data based on World Bank classifications
Related countries
Where does Mauritania rank?
Mauritania is in the top 50 on one of our six rankings: