Countries

Mauritania

Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, sits on the Atlantic coast and is its largest city. Most of the country lies in the Sahara, whose sands hold the Richat Structure, a ring formation about 40 km across that is easy to spot from orbit.

Fishermen hauling a brightly painted wooden pirogue onto the Atlantic beach at Nouakchott, Mauritania, with gulls overhead

Nouakchott, on the Atlantic

Photo: IssamBarhoumi, CC BY-SA 4.0

Green and gold, with the crescent and star, are symbols of Islam. Red stripes were added at the top and bottom in 2017, standing for the blood of those who fought for independence.

How it has changed

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