Population: 2,667,859 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 46% (male 617,077; female 614,961)
15-64 years: 52% (male 677,238; female 697,524)
65 years and over: 2% (male 25,417; female 35,642) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.94% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 43.36 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 78.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 50.76 years
male: 48.7 years
female: 52.87 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.29 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mauritanian(s)
adjective: Mauritanian

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

Religions: Muslim 100%

Languages: Hassaniya Arabic (official), Pular (national), Soninke (national), Wolof (national), French. In addition to these, "Nemadi" and "Imraguen" have been dubiously reported by some sources to be separate languages (as opposed to dialects of Hassaniyya.)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 37.7%
male: 49.6%
female: 26.3% (1995 est.)

See also : Mauritania