Mauritania

REGION: West Africa
CAPITAL CITY: Nouakchott
POPULATION: 2,980,000
LAND AREA: The size of Washington, Oregon and California combined

Almost entirely within the Sahara Desert, Mauritania embodies two distinct cultural groups — Arab-Berbers in the north and black Africans in the south — and bridges the North African Mahgreb and the West African Sahel. Less than 1 percent of Mauritania's land is arable, and most of that arable land lies to the south, where the desert tapers off. A significant portion of the population is nomadic. Those who are settled engage primarily in subsistence agriculture, made all the harder by, not only the innately dry climate, but also the droughts that have plagued Mauritania for decades. Adding to the country's challenges have been longstanding conflicts, both interethnic tensions at home and external territorial disputes, in particular the dispute over Western Sahara. Recently, Mauritania joined the ranks of Africa's oil producers.