A: Mauritania lies on the geographical coordinates of 20° 0' 0" N, 12° 0' 0" W.

Latitude and Longitude of Mauritania in other units:

More detail about Mauritania

Mauritania Looking for More Options

Thirty years ago there were many nomads and farmers that based their living on agriculture and livestock. The recurrent droughts of the following two decades, in the 1970's and 1980's however forced the majority of these people into the cities. After all of this happening, the nation still relies heavily on the agricultural industry as well as raising livestock.

There are extensive deposits of iron ore located in Mauritania which accounts for about half of the nation's exports. There has been a cutback in these exports since the global demand for this type of ore has decreased.

This area was known for the rich fishing areas surrounding it. The coast, because of this reputation, has been exploited by many foreigners to the point of threatening this source of the country's income.

The government has started to plan and implement reform for the nation. Due to debt and mismanagement of funds, there was a lot of foreign debt incurred. This is a large obstacle for the nation. The government has started the second stage of the reform plan and is in talks with the World Bank, the IMF and various countries that play a big role in giving donations to help other countries.

While there might be some short term growth prospects, these will not be the solution that the country needs. Even so, these prospects are limited because of the heavy debt, the unstable climate and the high levels of population growth.

At the moment, the country seeks to find more options that they can use to increase both short term and long term solutions to their economic troubles. It will take time to find these but they are getting closer to finding these results in their consultation with the aforementioned organizations - only time will tell what those solutions will be.