If you lived in Mauritania instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Health

be 66.7% less likely to be obese

In Cook Islands, 72.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Mauritania, that number is 24.1% of people as of 2024.

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live 8.4 years less

In Cook Islands, the average life expectancy is 77 years (74 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2022. In Mauritania, that number is 69 years (67 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2024.

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have 80.6% fewer doctors per person

Cook Islands has 13.4 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2019. Mauritania has 2.6 as of 2022.

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have 13.0% less access to essential health services

Cook Islands scores 46 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Mauritania scores 40 as of 2021.

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Life

have 2.8 times more children

In Cook Islands, there are approximately 12.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Mauritania, there are 34.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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be 89.6% more likely to die during infancy

In Cook Islands, approximately 15.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Mauritania, on the other hand, 30.2 children do as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 29.4% less likely to have internet access

In Cook Islands, approximately 64.8% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Mauritania, about 45.8% do as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 65.4% more on education

Cook Islands spends 4.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Mauritania spends 7.6% of total GDP on education as of 2024.

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spend 35.6% more on healthcare

Cook Islands spends 3.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Mauritania, that number is 4.3% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 6.3 times more coastline

Cook Islands has a total of 120 km of coastline. In Mauritania, that number is 754 km.

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Safety

be 46.0% less likely to die in a road accident

In Cook Islands, road accidents kill 17.6 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Mauritania, they kill 9.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 94.8% less home broadband

Cook Islands has 18.2 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Mauritania has 0.9 as of 2024.

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Sources: The World Factbook (2020–2024), World Bank (2022–2024), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

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 Cook Islands? See an in-depth size comparison.

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