Demographics of Mauritania
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Mauritania_single_age_population_pyramid_2020.png/350px-Mauritania_single_age_population_pyramid_2020.png)
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Mauritania (Arabic: التركيبة السكانية في موريتانيا), including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Population[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Mauritania-demography.png/220px-Mauritania-demography.png)
According to the 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects[1][2], the total population was 4,403,313 in 2018, compared to only 657 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 39.9%, 57.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.7% was 65 years or older.[3]
Total population (x 1000) | Population aged 0–14 (%) | Population aged 15–64 (%) | Population aged 65+ (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | 657 | 43.8 | 54.8 | 1.4 |
1955 | 744 | 43.6 | 54.7 | 1.6 |
1960 | 854 | 44.3 | 53.8 | 1.8 |
1965 | 984 | 45.2 | 52.8 | 2.0 |
1970 | 1 134 | 45.8 | 52.1 | 2.2 |
1975 | 1 312 | 45.8 | 51.9 | 2.3 |
1980 | 1 518 | 45.6 | 51.9 | 2.4 |
1985 | 1 748 | 45.3 | 52.2 | 2.5 |
1990 | 1 996 | 44.9 | 52.5 | 2.6 |
1995 | 2 292 | 44.0 | 53.4 | 2.7 |
2000 | 2 643 | 42.7 | 54.6 | 2.7 |
2005 | 3 047 | 41.2 | 56.1 | 2.7 |
2010 | 3 460 | 39.9 | 57.4 | 2.7 |
Structure of the population[]
Structure of the population (24.03.2013) (Census, complete tabulation) :
Age Group | Male | Female | Total | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1 743 074 | 1 794 294 | 3 537 368 | 100 |
0-4 | 316 217 | 298 475 | 614 692 | 17,38 |
5-9 | 263 263 | 256 839 | 520 102 | 14,70 |
10-14 | 212 838 | 216 667 | 429 505 | 12,14 |
15-19 | 176 116 | 185 288 | 361 404 | 10,22 |
20-24 | 144 478 | 157 962 | 302 440 | 8,55 |
25-29 | 121 586 | 135 767 | 257 353 | 7,28 |
30-34 | 99 834 | 113 691 | 213 525 | 6,04 |
35-39 | 83 578 | 95 379 | 178 957 | 5,06 |
40-44 | 72 108 | 79 228 | 151 336 | 4,28 |
45-49 | 60 297 | 64 516 | 124 813 | 3,53 |
50-54 | 50 739 | 51 751 | 102 490 | 2,90 |
55-59 | 41 075 | 40 645 | 81 720 | 2,31 |
60-64 | 31 660 | 30 459 | 62 119 | 1,76 |
65-69 | 24 120 | 23 055 | 47 175 | 1,33 |
70-74 | 18 167 | 17 129 | 35 296 | 1,00 |
75-79 | 12 670 | 12 231 | 24 901 | 0,70 |
80-84 | 8 080 | 8 584 | 16 664 | 0,47 |
85+ | 6 248 | 6 628 | 12 876 | 0,36 |
Age group | Male | Female | Total | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
0-14 | 792 318 | 771 981 | 1 564 299 | 44,22 |
15-64 | 881 471 | 954 686 | 1 836 157 | 51,91 |
65+ | 69 285 | 67 627 | 136 912 | 3,87 |
Vital statistics[]
Registration of vital events in Mauritania is incomplete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. [3]
Period | Live births per year | Deaths per year | Natural change per year | CBR* | CDR* | NC* | TFR* | IMR* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1950-1955 | 34 000 | 16 000 | 18 000 | 48.6 | 23.4 | 25.1 | 6.34 | 151 |
1955-1960 | 40 000 | 18 000 | 22 000 | 50.2 | 22.2 | 28.0 | 6.71 | 149 |
1960-1965 | 45 000 | 19 000 | 26 000 | 49.3 | 20.7 | 28.6 | 6.79 | 147 |
1965-1970 | 51 000 | 20 000 | 31 000 | 47.9 | 19.1 | 28.8 | 6.79 | 143 |
1970-1975 | 57 000 | 20 000 | 37 000 | 46.5 | 16.3 | 30.2 | 6.75 | 133 |
1975-1980 | 63 000 | 20 000 | 43 000 | 44.7 | 14.2 | 30.4 | 6.57 | 113 |
1980-1985 | 70 000 | 20 000 | 49 000 | 42.6 | 12.4 | 30.1 | 6.28 | 93 |
1985-1990 | 77 000 | 22 000 | 56 000 | 41.3 | 11.6 | 29.7 | 6.06 | 81 |
1990-1995 | 86 000 | 23 000 | 62 000 | 40.0 | 11.0 | 29.0 | 5.78 | 77 |
1995-2000 | 94 000 | 26 000 | 68 000 | 38.2 | 10.6 | 27.6 | 5.40 | 76 |
2000-2005 | 104 000 | 29 000 | 75 000 | 36.6 | 10.3 | 26.3 | 5.05 | 77 |
2005-2010 | 113 000 | 33 000 | 81 000 | 34.8 | 10.1 | 24.8 | 4.71 | 77 |
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman; IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births) |
Fertility and Births[]
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):[4]
Year | CBR (Total) | TFR (Total) | CBR (Urban) | TFR (Urban) | CBR (Rural) | TFR (Rural) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000-2001 | 32,1 | 4,7 (4,3) | 31,9 | 4,3 (3,9) | 32,1 | 5,0 (4,7) |
2003-2004 | 4,6 | 4,1 | 5,1 |
Fertility data as of 2010 (DHS Program):[5]
Zone | Total fertility rate | Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant | Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 |
---|---|---|---|
Nouakchott | 4.3 | 8.0 | 5.7 |
Sud-Est | 5.0 | 10.4 | 5.2 |
Fleuve | 5.1 | 8.5 | 6.0 |
Nord | 4.6 | 7.1 | 6.5 |
Centre | 4.0 | 6.7 | 6.1 |
Life expectancy[]
Period | Life expectancy in Years[6] |
---|---|
1950–1955 | 41.72 |
1955–1960 | ![]() |
1960–1965 | ![]() |
1965–1970 | ![]() |
1970–1975 | ![]() |
1975–1980 | ![]() |
1980–1985 | ![]() |
1985–1990 | ![]() |
1990–1995 | ![]() |
1995–2000 | ![]() |
2000–2005 | ![]() |
2005–2010 | ![]() |
2010–2015 | ![]() |
Other demographic statistic[]
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[7]
- One birth every 3 minutes
- One death every 15 minutes
- One net migrant every 111 minutes
- Net gain of one person every 4 minutes
The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook[8] unless otherwise indicated.
Population[]
- 3,840,429 (July 2018 est.)
- 3,381,634 (June 2011 est.)
Age structure[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Mauritaniapop.svg/350px-Mauritaniapop.svg.png)
- 0-14 years: 38.24% (male 737,570 /female 730,969)
- 15-24 years: 19.78% (male 372,070 /female 387,375)
- 25-54 years: 33.44% (male 595,472 /female 688,620)
- 55-64 years: 4.74% (male 82,197 /female 99,734)
- 65 years and over: 3.81% (male 62,072 /female 84,350) (2018 est.)
Median age[]
- total: 20.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 186th
- male: 19.7 years
- female: 21.6 years (2018 est.)
- total: 19.3 years
- male: 18.5 years
- female: 20.2 years (2010 est.)
Birth rate[]
- 29.9 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th
Death rate[]
- 7.8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 97th
Total fertility rate[]
- 3.79 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 39th
Population growth rate[]
- 2.14% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 41st
- 2.349% (2011 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate[]
- 17.8% (2015)
Net migration rate[]
- -0.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 132nd
Dependency ratios[]
- total dependency ratio: 76.5 (2015 est.)
- youth dependency ratio: 71 (2015 est.)
- elderly dependency ratio: 5.5 (2015 est.)
- potential support ratio: 18.3 (2015 est.)
Urbanization[]
- urban population: 53.7% of total population (2018)
- rate of urbanization: 4.28% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Rank | Name | Region | Pop. | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Nouakchott ![]() Nouadhibou |
1 | Nouakchott | Nouakchott | 958,399 | ![]() Kiffa | ||||
2 | Nouadhibou | Dakhlet Nouadhibou | 118,167 | ||||||
3 | Kiffa | Assaba | 50,026 | ||||||
4 | Hodh Ech Chargui | 47,725 | |||||||
5 | Kaédi | Gorgol | 45,539 | ||||||
6 | Zouérat | Tiris Zemmour | 44,469 | ||||||
7 | Rosso | Traza | 33,581 | ||||||
8 | Sélibaby | Guidimaka | 26,420 | ||||||
9 | Atar | Adrar | 25,190 | ||||||
10 | Aïoun | Hodh El Gharbi | 22,796 |
Life expectancy at birth[]
- total population: 63.8 years (2018 est.)
- male: 61.4 years (2018 est.)
- female: 66.2 years (2018 est.)
- total population: 60.75 years
- male: 58.57 years
- female: 62.99 years (2010 est.)
Sex ratio[]
- at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
- under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
- 15–64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
- total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2010 est.)
Ethnic groups[]
White Moors (bidhanes) 53% or 2.4 million people, black Moors (haratins) 30%, 17% 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)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS[]
9,500 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)
Nationality[]
noun: Mauritanian(s) adjective: Mauritanian
Religions[]
Islam (official) 100%
Languages[]
Arabic (official and national), French (widely used in media and among educated classes), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, Serer.[9]
Literacy[]
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
- total population: 52.1% (2015 est.)
- male: 62.6% (2015 est.)
- female: 41.6% (2015 est.)
- total population: 51.2%
- male: 59.5%
- female: 43.4% (2000 census)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)[]
- total: 8 years (2017)
- male: 8 years (2017)
- female: 8 years (2017)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24[]
- total: 15.2% (2012 est.)
- male: 14.1% (2012 est.)
- female: 17% (2012 est.)
References[]
- ^ ""World Population prospects – Population division"". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
- ^ ""Overall total population" – World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision" (xslx). population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
- ^ a b "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". population.un.org. Archived from the original on May 6, 2011.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2014-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "Demographics" (PDF). http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR256/FR256.pdf. 201. Retrieved 2021-01-04. External link in
|website=
(help) - ^ "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
- ^ "Mauritania Population 2019", World Population Review
- ^ "The World FactBook - Mauritania", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Project, Joshua. "Serer in Mauritania". joshuaproject.net.
External links[]
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Mauritania. |
- Demographics of Mauritania
- Mauritanian society