---
title: "Mauritania — capital, area, population and currency"
description: "Mauritania: capital Nouakchott, area 1,030,700 km², population 5,315,065 (2025), currency Mauritanian ouguiya. Languages, time zones and calling code."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country/mauritania/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Mauritania

**Mauritania: Capital Nouakchott**

1,030,700 km² · 5,315,065 people (2025) · Mauritanian ouguiya

The Richat Structure in the desert — the "Eye of the Sahara" — is a 40 km-wide bullseye of eroded rock, clearly visible from orbit and long used as a landmark by astronauts. The iron-ore train from Zouérat to the coast is among the longest and heaviest trains in regular service, often over 2 km.

## The facts

- **Capital:** Nouakchott
- **Area:** 1,030,700 km² — 397,955 sq mi
- **Population:** 5,315,065 (2025)
- **Density:** 5.2 people per km²
- **Currency:** Mauritanian ouguiya (MRU, UM)
- **Official language:** Arabic
- **Time zone:** UTC+00:00
- **Calling code:** +222
- **Drives on the:** right
- **ISO codes:** MR · MRT
- **Continent:** Africa

## How it compares

- **By area:** 29 of 200
- **By population:** 126 of 200

> Population is the only figure on this page that dates — it is a 2025 estimate and will drift. Area, capital, currency, languages, calling code and driving side change rarely or never.

## Countries of a similar size

| Country | Area (km²) | Population |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ethiopia | 1,104,300 | 135,472,051 |
| Bolivia | 1,098,581 | 12,581,843 |
| Mauritania ← | 1,030,700 | 5,315,065 |
| Egypt | 1,001,450 | 118,365,995 |
| Tanzania | 947,300 | 70,545,865 |

## Common questions

### What is the capital of Mauritania?

Nouakchott

### What currency does Mauritania use?

The Mauritanian ouguiya (MRU).

### How big is Mauritania?

1,030,700 km², or 397,955 square miles — 29 of 200 by area.

### Which side of the road does Mauritania drive on?

The right.

## Related pages

- [Ethiopia](https://atoneplace.net/country/ethiopia/)
- [Bolivia](https://atoneplace.net/country/bolivia/)
- [Egypt](https://atoneplace.net/country/egypt/)
- [Tanzania](https://atoneplace.net/country/tanzania/)
- [Nigeria](https://atoneplace.net/country/nigeria/)
- [Ethiopia](https://atoneplace.net/country/ethiopia/)
- [Egypt](https://atoneplace.net/country/egypt/)
- [Democratic Republic of the Congo](https://atoneplace.net/country/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/)
- [Tanzania](https://atoneplace.net/country/tanzania/)
- [South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country/south-africa/)
- [Kenya](https://atoneplace.net/country/kenya/)
- [Sudan](https://atoneplace.net/country/sudan/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]