Geography

At 1,030,700 km sq (397,929 mi sq), Mauritania is the world's 29th-largest country (after Bolivia). It is comparable in size to Egypt, and nearly twice the size of France. It borders the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara, Mali and Algeria. It is considered part of both the Sahel and the Maghreb.

Mauritania is generally flat, with vast, arid plains broken by occasional ridges and cliff-like outcroppings. A series of scarps face southwest, longitudinally bisecting these plains in the centre of the country. The scarps also separate a series of sandstone plateaus, the highest of which is the Adrar Plateau, reaching an elevation of 500 meters (1,640 ft). Spring-fed oases lie at the foot of some of the scarps. Isolated peaks, often rich in minerals, rise above the plateaus; the smaller peaks are called guelbs and the larger ones kedias. The concentric Guelb er Richat (also known as the Richat Structure) is a prominent feature of the north-central region. Kediet Ijill, near the city of Zouirat, has an elevation of 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) and is the highest peak.

Approximately three-fourths of Mauritania is desert or semidesert. As a result of extended, severe drought, the desert has been expanding since the mid-1960s. The plateaus gradually descend toward the northeast to the barren El Djouf, or "Empty Quarter," a vast region of large sand dunes that merges into the Sahara Desert. To the west, between the ocean and the plateaus, are alternating areas of clayey plains (regs) and sand dunes (ergs), some of which shift from place to place, gradually moved by high winds. The dunes generally increase in size and mobility toward the north.