Population:
3,129,486 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 41% (male 643,436/female 638,793)
15-64 years: 55.7% (male 818,778/female 923,046)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 44,836/female 60,597) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 19.2 years
male: 18.3 years
female: 20 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.399% (2009 est.)

Birth rate:
34.11 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate:
11.61 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.96 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 41% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 3% annual rate of change (2005-10 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 (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 63.42 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 68.65 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 58.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 60.37 years
male: 58.22 years
female: 62.59 years (2009 est.)

See also: Healthy Life Expectancy

See also: Health Performance

Total fertility rate:
4.45 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.8% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
14,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
fewer than 1,000 (2007 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and Rift Valley fever
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Nationality:
noun: Mauritanian(s)
adjective: Mauritanian

Ethnic groups:
mixed Moor/black 40%, Moor 30%, black 30%

Religions:
Muslim 100%

Languages:
Arabic (official and national), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof (all national languages), French, Hassaniya

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 51.2%
male: 59.5%
female: 43.4% (2000 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 8 years
male: 8 years
female: 8 years (2006)