Mauritania Trivia
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47 free Mauritania trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Mauritania is a country of sand and Atlantic surf where the Arab Maghreb meets sub-Saharan Africa: 90 percent of it lies in the Sahara, and its capital did not exist as a city until 1958. This quiz covers the geography (the Adrar Plateau, the Eye of the Sahara, the barren El Djouf, the bird-thronged Banc d'Arguin) and the history, from the Almoravids and the Char Bouba War through French West Africa, independence in 1960, the Western Sahara misadventure and the string of coups that ended only with the 2019 handover. It also digs into culture and daily life: Hassaniya Arabic, the Bidhan and Haratin, the iggawen musicians and their tidinit lute, three rounds of mint tea, the manuscript libraries of Chinguetti, the trains up to three kilometres long that haul iron ore to Nouadhibou, and the 2017 referendum that put two red stripes on the flag. Some questions are grim but essential, including the persistence of slavery decades after its abolition. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Mauritania, Nouakchott, the Richat Structure, Chinguetti, the Mauritania Railway, Banc d'Arguin and the flag, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 47 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital and largest city of Mauritania?
Nouakchott
Nouakchott, purpose-built as the capital shortly before independence, is home to roughly a quarter of all Mauritanians.
Q 02Which ocean forms Mauritania's western border?
The Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean washes Mauritania's roughly 750 km western coastline; every other border is a land border.
Q 03Roughly what share of Mauritania's territory is Saharan desert?
90%
About 90% of Mauritania lies within the Sahara; most people live in the Sahelian south and the river valley.
Q 04What is Mauritania's official full name?
Islamic Republic
The country is styled the Islamic Republic of Mauritania; Islam is the state religion and nearly all citizens are Sunni Muslim.
Q 05What is the official language of Mauritania?
Arabic
Arabic became the sole official language under the 1991 constitution, which ended French's official status.
Q 06What is the name of the local dialect spoken by most Mauritanians?
Hassaniya
Hassaniya, the Arabic dialect of the Moors, takes its name from the Beni Hassan tribe and carries many Berber loanwords.
Q 07Mauritania's name comes from an ancient Berber kingdom that lay where?
Far to the north on the Mediterranean
The Berber kingdom of Mauretania lay far to the north on the Mediterranean, centred on what is now northern Morocco, and later became a Roman province.
Q 08Which 11th-century Berber movement rose from Mauritania's deserts to build an empire reaching Spain?
The Almoravids
The Almoravids, Sanhaja Berbers from the Sahara, founded Marrakesh around 1070 and ruled Morocco and Muslim Spain by the 1090s.
Q 09The Char Bouba War of 1644-1674 was the last failed indigenous effort to repel which invaders?
The Maqil Arabs
The victorious Beni Hassan became the top stratum of Moorish society and gave their name to the local dialect.
Q 10Mauritania was colonised in the early 20th century as part of which colonial federation?
French West Africa
Mauritania was administered within French West Africa (AOF), becoming a full colony of that federation in 1920 after Xavier Coppolani's 1901 mission.
Q 11Mauritania became independent in which year?
1960
Mauritania gained independence from France on 28 November 1960, and 28 November is its national day.
Q 12The capital was chosen while still little more than what?
A fortified fishing village
Nouakchott was little more than a fortified fishing village (ksar) when picked as the future capital in the late 1950s; city construction began in 1958.
Q 13Who was Mauritania's first president, ousted in a bloodless coup in 1978?
Moktar Ould Daddah
Moktar Ould Daddah, president from independence, was deposed in a bloodless coup in July 1978 after a costly desert war drained the treasury.
Q 21Which two groups together make up about 70 percent of Mauritania's population?
Haratin and Bidhan
The Haratin (Black Moors) and Bidhan (White Moors) together form about 70% of Mauritanians; sub-Saharan peoples such as the Halpulaar and Soninke make up the rest.
Q 22Mauritania expelled some 70,000 black citizens during a 1989 conflict with which neighbour?
Senegal
The 1989 Mauritania-Senegal conflict began with a grazing dispute at Diawara on the river border; tens of thousands of black Mauritanians were deported to Senegal.
Q 23What is the highest peak in Mauritania?
Kediet ej Jill
Kediet ej Jill, an iron-rich mountain beside the mining town of Zouérat, reaches 915 metres, the highest point in Mauritania.
Q 14Mauritania annexed part of which neighbour in 1976, then withdrew in 1979?
Western Sahara
Mauritania took the southern third of Western Sahara (Tiris al-Gharbiyya) in 1976 and renounced it in 1979 after Polisario raids; Morocco then occupied it.
Q 15Which colonel ruled Mauritania for 21 years until a coup in August 2005?
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, in power since 1984, was overthrown in August 2005 while attending the funeral of Saudi King Fahd.
Q 16In 1999 Mauritania became one of only a few Arab League members to formally recognise which country?
Israel
Mauritania opened full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999, joining Egypt and Jordan; it froze them during the 2009 Gaza war and severed them in 2010.
Q 17Mauritania's first fully democratic multi-candidate presidential election was held in which year?
2007
The March 2007 vote, won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, was the first free multi-candidate presidential election; a coup removed him in August 2008.
Q 18Which general led the 2008 coup and then won presidential elections in 2009 and 2014?
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz seized power in August 2008, won the 2009 and 2014 presidential votes, and was jailed for illicit enrichment in December 2023.
Q 19The 2019 election of Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was notable as what?
The first peaceful transfer of power since independence
He was re-elected for a second term in June 2024.
Q 20Slavery in Mauritania has been officially abolished how many times?
Three
In 1905, 1981 and 2007, yet the Global Slavery Index still estimated 90,000 enslaved people in 2018.
Q 24The Richat Structure in the Adrar Plateau is nicknamed what?
The Eye of the Sahara
The Richat Structure is nicknamed the Eye of the Sahara (or Eye of Africa); its concentric rings span about 40 km and stand out from orbit.
Q 25What is the name of the vast dune region in Mauritania's northeast, known as the 'Empty Quarter'?
El Djouf
El Djouf, a basin of dunes and salt flats in Mauritania's northeast running into Mali, is so empty it is called the country's 'Empty Quarter'.
Q 26Which mineral accounted for almost half of Mauritania's exports in the early 2020s?
Iron ore
Iron ore from the Zouérat mines made up almost half of Mauritania's export earnings in the early 2020s, ahead of gold and fish.
Q 27The Mauritania Railway links the mines at Zouérat with which port?
Nouadhibou
The 704 km single-track Mauritania Railway carries iron ore from Zouérat to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou.
Q 28Ore trains on the Mauritania Railway can be how long?
Up to 3 km
They rank among the longest and heaviest trains in the world, with 200 or more cars.
Q 29Mauritania's Banc d'Arguin National Park is best known for hosting what?
Millions of migratory waders
More than two million wading birds arrive from Europe, Siberia and Greenland.
Q 30What was added to Mauritania's flag in 2017?
Two red stripes
Two red stripes, top and bottom, were added after an August 2017 referendum; they honour the blood shed defending the country.