Mauritania

Africa
Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara.

(Honor, Fraternity, Justice)		20.2621971N 8.2177734W
President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz	Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf

Capital
Nouakchott

Government
Islamic republic

Religion
Muslim 100%

Population
3,205,060

Ethnic group
Mixed Moor/black 40%, Moor 30%, black 30%.


National Language                     
Arabic
            
National Day
28 November 1960 (from France)

Anthem
National Anthem of Mauritania

Currency
Ouguiya (MRO)

Attractions
Chinguetti 

Website      

Art & Cultural

The ICON

The Chinguetti Mosque The Chinguetti Mosque is a mosque in Chinguetti, Mauritania. It was an ancient center of worship created by the founders of the oasis city of Chinguetti in the Adrar region of Mauritania in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The minaret of this ancient structure is supposed to be the second oldest in continuous use anywhere in the Muslim world. Architecturally, the structure features a prayer room with four aisles as well as a double-niched symbolic door, or mihrab pointing towards Mecca and an open courtyard. Among its most distinctive characteristics are its spare, unmortared, split stone masonry, its square minaret tower, and its conscious lack of ardornment, keeping with the strict Malikite beliefs of the city's founders. The mosque and its minaret is popularly considered the national emblem of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. In the 1970s the mosque was restored through a UNESCO effort, but it, along with the city itself, continues to be threatened by intense desertification.

Chinguetti Mosque