Home

Mauritania vs. Senegal

Demographics

MauritaniaSenegal
Population4,079,284 (July 2021 est.)16,082,442 (July 2021 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 37.56% (male 755,788/female 748,671)

15-24 years: 19.71% (male 387,140/female 402,462)

25-54 years: 33.91% (male 630,693/female 727,518)

55-64 years: 4.9% (male 88,888/female 107,201)

65 years and over: 3.92% (male 66,407/female 90,707) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 40.38% (male 3,194,454/female 3,160,111)

15-24 years: 20.35% (male 1,596,896/female 1,606,084)

25-54 years: 31.95% (male 2,327,424/female 2,700,698)

55-64 years: 4.21% (male 283,480/female 378,932)

65 years and over: 3.1% (male 212,332/female 275,957) (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 21 years

male: 20.1 years

female: 22 years (2020 est.)
total: 19.4 years

male: 18.5 years

female: 20.3 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate2.02% (2021 est.)2.25% (2021 est.)
Birth rate28.49 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)31.31 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate7.54 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)7.55 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate-0.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)-1.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.87 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.83 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female

total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 0.99 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.86 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.75 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female

total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 52.05 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 57.96 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 45.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total: 47.72 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 54.66 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 40.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 64.86 years

male: 62.43 years

female: 67.37 years (2021 est.)
total population: 63.83 years

male: 61.59 years

female: 66.14 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate3.59 children born/woman (2021 est.)3.97 children born/woman (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.3% (2020 est.)0.3% (2020 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Mauritanian(s)

adjective: Mauritanian
noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)

adjective: Senegalese
Ethnic groupsBlack Moors (Haratines - Arab-speaking slaves, former slaves, and their descendants of African origin, enslaved by white Moors) 40%, White Moors (of Arab-Berber descent, known as Beydane) 30%, Sub-Saharan Mauritanians (non-Arabic speaking, largely resident in or originating from the Senegal River Valley, including Halpulaar, Fulani, Soninke, Wolof, and Bambara ethnic groups) 30%Wolof 37.1%, Pular 26.2%, Serer 17%, Mandinka 5.6%, Jola 4.5%, Soninke 1.4%, other 8.3% (includes Europeans and persons of Lebanese descent) (2017 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS8,500 (2020 est.)39,000 (2020 est.)
ReligionsMuslim (official) 100%Muslim 95.9% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 4.1% (mostly Roman Catholic) (2017 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths<500 (2020 est.)1,100 (2020 est.)
LanguagesArabic (official and national), Pular, Soninke, Wolof (all national languages), French; note - the spoken Arabic in Mauritania differs considerably from the modern standard Arabic used for official written purposes or in the media; the Mauritanian dialect, which incorporates many Berber words, is referred to as Hassaniya

major-language sample(s):
???? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ????????? ??? ????????? ???????? (Arabic)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
French (official), Wolof, Pular, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, Soninke
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 53.5%

male: 63.7%

female: 43.4% (2017)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 51.9%

male: 64.8%

female: 39.8% (2017)
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

animal contact diseases: rabies

respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
Food insecuritysevere localized food insecurity: due to poor performance of pastoral cropping season - according to the latest analysis, about 484,000 people are assessed to need humanitarian assistance in the June-August 2021 period as a result of fodder production deficits in Trarza, Brakna, Gorgol, Guidimaka and Assaba districts (2021)severe localized food insecurity: due to localized shortfalls in cereal production - according to the latest analysis, about 490,000 people are estimated to need humanitarian assistance in the June-August 2021 period due to the effects of adverse weather events (droughts and floods) on cereal and fodder production (2021)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 9 years

male: 9 years

female: 10 years (2019)
total: 9 years

male: 8 years

female: 9 years (2019)
Education expenditures1.9% of GDP (2019)4.8% of GDP (2018)
Urbanizationurban population: 56.1% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 3.84% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 48.6% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 3.59% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 98.7% of population

rural: 68.4% of population

total: 84.4% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.3% of population

rural: 31.6% of population

total: 15.6% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 92.3% of population

rural: 74.5% of population

total: 83.3% of population

unimproved: urban: 6.7% of population

rural: 25.5% of population

total: 16.7% of population (2017 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 83.5% of population

rural: 25.2% of population

total: 56% of population

unimproved: urban: 16.5% of population

rural: 74.8% of population

total: 44% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 91.2% of population

rural: 48.5% of population

total: 68.4% of population

unimproved: urban: 8.8% of population

rural: 51.5% of population

total: 31.6% of population (2017 est.)
Major cities - population1.372 million NOUAKCHOTT (capital) (2021)3.230 million DAKAR (capital) (2021)
Maternal mortality rate766 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)315 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight19.2% (2018)14.4% (2019)
Health expenditures4.6% (2018)4% (2018)
Physicians density0.19 physicians/1,000 population (2018)0.07 physicians/1,000 population (2017)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate12.7% (2016)8.8% (2016)
Demographic profile

With a sustained total fertility rate of about 4 children per woman and almost 60% of the population under the age of 25, Mauritania's population is likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future. Mauritania's large youth cohort is vital to its development prospects, but available schooling does not adequately prepare students for the workplace. Girls continue to be underrepresented in the classroom, educational quality remains poor, and the dropout rate is high. The literacy rate is only about 50%, even though access to primary education has improved since the mid-2000s. Women's restricted access to education and discriminatory laws maintain gender inequality - worsened by early and forced marriages and female genital cutting.

The denial of education to black Moors also helps to perpetuate slavery. Although Mauritania abolished slavery in 1981 (the last country in the world to do so) and made it a criminal offense in 2007, the millenniums-old practice persists largely because anti-slavery laws are rarely enforced and the custom is so ingrained.  According to a 2018 nongovernmental organization's report, a little more than 2% of Mauritania's population is enslaved, which includes individuals sujbected to forced labor and forced marriage, although many thousands of individuals who are legally free contend with discrimination, poor education, and a lack of identity papers and, therefore, live in de facto slavery.  The UN and international press outlets have claimed that up to 20% of Mauritania's population is enslaved, which would be the highest rate worldwide.

Drought, poverty, and unemployment have driven outmigration from Mauritania since the 1970s. Early flows were directed toward other West African countries, including Senegal, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, and Gambia. The 1989 Mauritania-Senegal conflict forced thousands of black Mauritanians to take refuge in Senegal and pushed labor migrants toward the Gulf, Libya, and Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Mauritania has accepted migrants from neighboring countries to fill labor shortages since its independence in 1960 and more recently has received refugees escaping civil wars, including tens of thousands of Tuaregs who fled Mali in 2012.

Mauritania was an important transit point for Sub-Saharan migrants moving illegally to North Africa and Europe. In the mid-2000s, as border patrols increased in the Strait of Gibraltar, security increased around Spain's North African enclaves (Ceuta and Melilla), and Moroccan border controls intensified, illegal migration flows shifted from the Western Mediterranean to Spain's Canary Islands. In 2006, departure points moved southward along the West African coast from Morocco and then Western Sahara to Mauritania's two key ports (Nouadhibou and the capital Nouakchott), and illegal migration to the Canaries peaked at almost 32,000. The numbers fell dramatically in the following years because of joint patrolling off the West African coast by Frontex (the EU's border protection agency), Spain, Mauritania, and Senegal; the expansion of Spain's border surveillance system; and the 2008 European economic downturn.

Senegal has a large and growing youth population but has not been successful in developing its potential human capital. Senegal's high total fertility rate of almost 4.5 children per woman continues to bolster the country's large youth cohort - more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25. Fertility remains high because of the continued desire for large families, the low use of family planning, and early childbearing. Because of the country's high illiteracy rate (more than 40%), high unemployment (even among university graduates), and widespread poverty, Senegalese youths face dim prospects; women are especially disadvantaged.

Senegal historically was a destination country for economic migrants, but in recent years West African migrants more often use Senegal as a transit point to North Africa - and sometimes illegally onward to Europe. The country also has been host to several thousand black Mauritanian refugees since they were expelled from their homeland during its 1989 border conflict with Senegal. The country's economic crisis in the 1970s stimulated emigration; departures accelerated in the 1990s. Destinations shifted from neighboring countries, which were experiencing economic decline, civil wars, and increasing xenophobia, to Libya and Mauritania because of their booming oil industries and to developed countries (most notably former colonial ruler France, as well as Italy and Spain). The latter became attractive in the 1990s because of job opportunities and their periodic regularization programs (legalizing the status of illegal migrants).

Additionally, about 16,000 Senegalese refugees still remain in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau as a result of more than 30 years of fighting between government forces and rebel separatists in southern Senegal's Casamance region.

Contraceptive prevalence rate17.8% (2015)26.9% (2019)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 75

youth dependency ratio: 69.5

elderly dependency ratio: 5.6

potential support ratio: 18 (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 84.2

youth dependency ratio: 78.4

elderly dependency ratio: 5.7

potential support ratio: 17.5 (2020 est.)

Source: CIA Factbook