MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Mauritania
Index
Mauritania is a member of the United Nations. It is
represented in the International Labour Organisation, the World
Health Organization, the International Telecommunication Union,
and the Intergovernmental Consultative Organization on Maritime
Navigation. In Africa, Mauritania is a member of the OAU and, at
the regional level, the Economic Community of West Africa
(Communauté Economique de l'Afrique Occidentale--CEAO), the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the
Nonaggression and Mutual Assistance and Defense Accord (a mutual
defense accord among several francophone states of West Africa).
Mauritania also belongs to the Arab League.
* * *
Writing on Mauritania, so rich for the medieval and
precolonial periods when Mauritania served as a cultural and
economic link between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, had
shrunk by the postindependence period, when a constellation of
factors relegated Mauritania to a relatively minor role in West
Africa. Moreover, drought, war, and domestic security concerns
have virtually eliminated the discretionary funds the government
might otherwise have spent for publishing documentary materials
pertaining to contemporary Mauritanian government and politics.
The principal sources for this chapter included the earlier
version of Mauritania: A Country Study; a similar but more
detailed study entitled Introduction à la Mauritanie
compiled by the Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes sur les Sociétés
Méditerranéennes (CRESM) and the Centre d'Etudes d'Afrique Noire
and published by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
(CNRS); and J.C. Arnaud's Les institutions politiques de la
Mauritanie. Contemporary sources included Africa South of
the Sahara published by Europa; Africa Contemporary
Record; Chaab, Mauritania's French-language daily
newspaper; the Quarterly Economic Reviews and Country
Reports and Quarterly Economic Review published by the
Economist Intelligence Unit; and the following news magazines:
Jeune Afrique, Africa Research Bulletin, Africa
Confidential, and Marchés tropicaux et Méditerranéens.
(For further information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of June 1988
|
|