Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Mauritania instead of Namibia, you would:

Health

be 97.4% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Namibia, 11.6% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Mauritania, that number is 0.3% of people as of 2020.

be 26.2% less likely to be obese

In Namibia, 17.2% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Mauritania, that number is 12.7% of people as of 2016.

live 1.2 years less

In Namibia, the average life expectancy is 66 years (64 years for men, 69 years for women) as of 2022. In Mauritania, that number is 65 years (63 years for men, 68 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 70.0% less likely to be unemployed

In Namibia, 34.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2016. In Mauritania, that number is 10.2% as of 2017.

make 43.8% less money

Namibia has a GDP per capita of $8,900 as of 2020, while in Mauritania, the GDP per capita is $5,000 as of 2020.

be 78.2% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Namibia, 17.4% live below the poverty line as of 2015. In Mauritania, however, that number is 31.0% as of 2014.

Life

have 12.2% more children

In Namibia, there are approximately 25.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Mauritania, there are 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.

be 3.9 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Namibia, approximately 195.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Mauritania, 766.0 women do as of 2017.

be 41.5% less likely to be literate

In Namibia, the literacy rate is 91.5% as of 2018. In Mauritania, it is 53.5% as of 2017.

be 73.3% more likely to die during infancy

In Namibia, approximately 29.4 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Mauritania, on the other hand, 51.0 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 43.9% less likely to have access to electricity

In Namibia, approximately 57% of people have electricity access (78% in urban areas, and 36% in rural areas) as of 2019. In Mauritania, that number is 32% of people on average (56% in urban areas, and 4% in rural areas) as of 2019.

Expenditures

spend 79.8% less on education

Namibia spends 9.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Mauritania spends 1.9% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 61.2% less on healthcare

Namibia spends 8.5% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Mauritania, that number is 3.3% of GDP as of 2019.

Geography

see 52.0% less coastline

Namibia has a total of 1,572 km of coastline. In Mauritania, that number is 754 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Mauritania: At a glance

Mauritania is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 1,030,700 sq km. Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976 but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled Mauritania with a heavy hand for more than two decades. A series of presidential elections that he held were widely seen as flawed. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDALLAHI was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritania's first freely and fairly elected president. His term ended prematurely in August 2008 when a military junta led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel AZIZ deposed him and installed a military council government. AZIZ was subsequently elected president in July 2009 and sworn in the following month. AZIZ sustained injuries from an accidental shooting by his own troops in October 2012 but has continued to maintain his authority. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population (Afro-Mauritanians) and white and black Moor (Arab-Berber) communities, and confronts a terrorism threat by al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
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How big is Mauritania compared to Namibia? See an in-depth size comparison.

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