Novotny+Mauritania

__Mauritania __ By: Jennifer Novotny Location Absolute Location
 * Mauritania's coordinates are approximately 18.5° latitude and 15.97° longitude

Relative Location
 * A few countries that surround Mauritania are Mali, Algeria, Senegal, and western Sahara
 * More than three quarters of Mauritania is made up of the Sahara desert
 * Senegal borders Mauritania to the south, Mali to the east, Algeria to the Northeast, and Western Sahara to the North.
 * Mauritania is located in the continent of Africa
 * Mauritania is in the Northwestern hemisphere

Region

A few comparison between the U.S and Mauritania are


 * Mauritania's surface area is 397,955 sq miles, America is 3,576,145 sq miles bigger with a total surface area of 3,794,100 sq miles.
 * In 2013 Mauritania's population was 3.44 million people with a global population ranking of 133, as for America in 2013 had a population of 316.67 million people with a global population ranking of 3.
 * One of Mauritania's top exported item is iron ore, as for America's top exported items is machines.
 * One of Mauritania's top imported item is machinery and mechanical appliances, America imports similar things like electrical equipment.
 * Mauritanians eat rice and couscous for every day foods. Americans eat meat as an everyday food.

Place Physical Features

Nouakchott is the capital city in Mauritania. Nouakchott has a tropical wet and dry savanna climate. The average temperature in 78.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The Senegal River is a 1,110 mile long river in west Africa that is the border between Senegal and Mauritania. The Atlantic ocean is to the west of Mauritania. The Kediet ej Jill mountain is 3,002 ft tall, which is the tallest mountain in Mauritania.

Human Fea tures Most households in Mauritania consist of extended family in addition to their immediate family. They speak many language including French, Moorish, Pulaar, Sonike, and Arabic. Fishing is a very big and important part of the peoples lives because it employs people and provides food for their family's.

This video shows some general facts about Mauritania and the people in it, also some examples of jobs in Mauritania. Some of the jobs there include fishing and engineering.

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Human Environment Interaction


 * Faidherbe Bridge is a road bridge that runs over the Senegal River, which connects the island of the city of Saint-Louis to the African mainland. Until the 19th century access to the island was made through a ferry, which would carry 150 passengers over the Senegal River. Louis Faidherde the governor of Senegal soon saw that the system of transportation over the river was quickly becoming overrun, so they decided to make a new metallic bridge which was named after the governor. It was named Faidherde Bridge. The metal bridge is 1,664 ft long, 34 ft wide, and weighs 1,500 tonnes. The bridge was opened on July 14, 1897.


 * Mauritania has two religions: Catholic and Muslim. The Central Mosque in Mauritania was given money by Saudi, Arabia to help build it. The people that go to the Central Mosque are Sunni Muslim religion. People with Sunni Muslim religion read a book similar to the bible called the Quran. The Central Mosque is 1 of 43 different Mosques all around Africa. Muslims pray at least 5 times a day, so the Central Mosque is extremely important to the people's beliefs.




 * In Mauritania Football (Soccer) is the most popular sport, but rugby is also played. Mauritania has an international soccer league who play and train at the Olympic stadium. They are currently playing against other international A[[image:http://ts1.explicit.bing.net/th?id=H.4970962023941114&w=260&h=175&c=7&rs=1&pid=1.7 width="222" height="172" align="right" caption="Kids Playing Soccer in Mauritania"]]frican soccer teams for a spot at the Africans Cup of Nations.

Movement


 * At the time in 1963 Iron ore was the main and most important exported item averaging 80% of the value of total exports. By the mid 1980's, fish exports rose to 59% of total exports and at the same time Iron ore exports dropped to only 40% of total exports.
 * As much as 70% of Mauritania's food needs are being imported from other countries.