Endonym Atlas NAMES IN THEIR SCRIPTS
Country · MR

Mauritania in other languages: exonyms, Nouakchott, flag, 15 regions

Mauritania is موريتانيا (Mūrītāniyā) in Arabic and Mauritanie in French, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, coded MR, MRT and 478. The name is listed in 171 languages and variants, Nouakchott in 61, followed by the 15 regions with their capitals.

Official languagesArabic (العربية, al-ʿarabīyâ); French

Checked

ISO 3166-1alpha-2 · alpha-3 · numeric
Flag of Mauritania
ratio 2:3
alpha-2
MR
alpha-3
MRT
numeric
478
موريتانيا Arabic · ArabicRomanised Mūrītāniyā

الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانيةal-Ǧumhūrīyâẗu l-Islāmīyâẗi l-Mūrītānīyâ

Mauritanie French · Latin

République islamique de Mauritanie

English
MauritaniaIslamic Republic of Mauritania
Capital
نواكشوطNouakchottNuwākšūṭ · Nouakchott

ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.

01 · Exonyms

Mauritania in other languages: list of exonyms

Mauritania in 171 languages and variants, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639-3 codes and romanisation
LanguagesISO 639-3NameRomanised
English, Aragonese, Asturian, Welsh, Basque, Finnish, Kven, Galician, Hawaiian, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Ladin, Norwegian, Romanian, Sicilian, Spanish, Swahili, Albanianeng / arg / ast / cym / eus / fin / fkv / glg / haw / ina / ind / ita / jav / lld / nor / ron / scn / spa / swa / sqiMauritaniasame as written
Bambara, Cornish, Haitian Creole, Lingalabam / cor / hat / linMoritanisame as written
Catalan, Occitan, Sardiniancat / oci / srdMauritàniasame as written
Danish, Saterland Frisian, Swedish, German, Luxembourgish, Low Germandan / stq / swe / deu / ltz / ndsMauretaniensame as written
Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbiandsb / hsbMauretanijasame as written
Estonian, Võroest / vorMauritaaniasame as written
French, Friulianfra / furMauritaniesame as written
Gagauz, Karakalpakgag / kaaMavritaniya / МавританияMavritaniya
Croatian, Lithuanianhrv / litMauritanijasame as written
Hungarian, Tetumhun / tetMauritániasame as written
Kinyarwanda, Kirundikin / runMoritaniyasame as written
Novial, Samoannov / smoMoritaniasame as written
Polish, Romanshpol / rohMauretaniasame as written
Turkish, Zazakitur / zzaMoritanyasame as written
AfrikaansafrMouritanië, Mauritaniësame as written
AzerbaijaniazeMavritaniya / МавританијаMavritaniya
BosnianbosMauritanija / Мауританија / ماۆرٖىتانٖىياMauritanija
BretonbreMaouritaniasame as written
CzechcesMauritánie, Mauretániesame as written
CorsicancosMuritaniasame as written
Crimean TatarcrhMuritaniya / МуританияMuritaniya
EsperantoepoMaŭritanujo, Maŭritaniosame as written
FaroesefaoMóritaniasame as written
Franco-ProvençalfrpMôritaniesame as written
West FrisianfryMauritaanjesame as written
Scottish GaelicglaMoratainiasame as written
IrishgleAn Mháratáinsame as written
ManxglvYn Varitaansame as written
HausahauMauritaniya, Mauretaniasame as written
IgboiboMọriteniasame as written
IcelandicislMáritaníasame as written
Jersey Norman FrenchjnfMauritanniesame as written
Kurmanji KurdishkurMorîtanyasame as written
LatinlatMauretania, Mauritaniasame as written
LatvianlavMauritānijasame as written
LatgalianltgMauritanejasame as written
MalagasymlgMôritaniasame as written
MaltesemltMawritanjasame as written
MoldovanmolMauritania / МауританияMauritania
MalaymsaMauritania / موريتانياMauritania
NahuatlnahMauritantlānsame as written
DutchnldMauritaniësame as written
Norman FrenchnrmMâorétanînsame as written
PortugueseporMauritâniasame as written
QuechuaqueMuritanyasame as written
Kalderash RomanirmyMauritaniya / माउरितानियाMauritaniya
AromanianrupMavritaniasame as written
SlovakslkMauretánia, Mauritániasame as written
SloviosloMauritania / МауританиаMauritania
SlovenianslvMavretanijasame as written
Northern SamismeMauretániasame as written
SamogitiansmgMaurėtanėjėsame as written
SomalisomMuritaaniyasame as written
SilesianszlMauretańjasame as written
TagalogtglMabritanyasame as written
TurkmentukMawritaniýa / МавританияMawritaniýa
UzbekuzbMavritaniya / Мавритания / مەۋرىتەنىيەMavritaniya
VietnamesevieMô-ri-ta-nisame as written
VolapükvolMauritänsame as written
WalloonwlnMoritanreyesame as written
WolofwolGànnaarsame as written
Abaza, Altai, Bulgarian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Russian, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmykabq / alt / bul / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / rus / tyv / udm / xalМавританияMavritanija
Chuvash, Mongolian, Ossetianchv / mon / ossМавританиMavritani
AbkhazabkМавританиаMavritania
AvaravaМавританияMawritanija
BashkirbakМавритания / MavritaniyaMavritaniya
BelarusianbelМаўрытанія / MaŭrytanijaMaŭrytanija
ChechencheМавритани / MavritaniMavritani
KazakhkazМавритания / ماۆريتانيا / MavrïtanïyaMavrïtanïya
KabardiankbdМавританиэMavritaniă
KyrgyzkirМавритания / ماۋرىتانىيا / MavritaniyaMavritaniya
Kurdish (Caucasus)kmrМавритани / MavrîtanîMavrîtanî
Meadow MarimhrМавританийMavritanij
MacedonianmkdМавританијаMavritanija
RusynrueМауретаніяMauretanija
YakutsahМауританияMauritanija
SerbiansrpМауританија / MauritanijaMauritanija
TatartatМавритания / Mavritaniä / ماۋرىتانىيەMavritaniä
TajiktgkМавритания / موریتنیه / MavritanijaMavritanija
UkrainianukrМавританіяMavrytanija
Arabicaraموريتانيا, موريطانياMūrītāniyā, Mūrīṭāniyā
South Azerbaijaniazbماوریتانییا / MavritaniyaMavritaniya
Sorani Kurdishckbمۆریتانیا / MorîtanyaMorîtanya
Persianfasموریتانی / Moritâni, موریتانیا / MuritâniyâMoritâni, Muritâniyâ
Western Punjabipnbماریطانیہ, موریطانیہMārīṭāniyâ, Mōrīṭāniyâ
DariprsموریتانیاMōrītāniyā
PashtopusموريتانياMōrītāniyā
Uyghuruigماۋرىتانىيە / Mawritaniye / МавританияMawritaniye
Urduurdموریتانیا, ماریطانیاMôrītāniyā, Mārīṭāniyā
DhivehidivމޮރިޓޭނިއާMoriṫēniā
SyriacsyrܡܘܪܝܬܢܝܐMōrītaniyā
Hebrewhebמאוריטניה, מאוריטאניה, מוריטניה, מוריטאניה, מאורטניה, מאורטאניה, מורטניה, מורטאניהMaʾūrīṭanyah, Maʾūrīṭānyah, Mavrīṭanyah, Mavrīṭānyah, Maʾūreṭanyah, Maʾūreṭānyah, Mavreṭanyah, Mavreṭānyah
Ladinoladמאוריטאניה / MauritaniaMauritania
YiddishyidמאָריטאַניעMoritanye
Berberberⵎⵓⵔⵉⵟⴰⵏⵢⴰ / MuriṭanyaMuriṭanya
Kabylekabⵎⵓⵔⵉⵜⴰⵏⵢⴰ / MuritanyaMuritanya
Amharicamhሞሪታኒያ, ሞሪታንያMoritaniya, Moritanya
GreekellΜαυριτανίαMayritanía
ArmenianhyeՄավրիտանիա, ՄաւրիտանիաMavritania, Mauritania
Georgian, Mingreliankat / xmfმავრიტანიაMavritania
Lazlzzმორიტანია / Morit’aniaMorit’ania
HindihinमॉरिटानियाMŏriṭāniyā
Bengalibenমরিটানিয়া, মৌরিতানিয়াMôriṭāniyā, Môuritāniyā
GujaratigujમોરિટેનિયાMŏriṭeniyā
OdiaoriମାଉରିଟାନିଆMāuriṭāniā
PunjabipanਮੋਰਿਟਾਨੀਆMoriṭānīā
SinhalasinමොරිටානියාවMoriṭāniyāva
KannadakanಮಾರಿಟಾನಿಯMāriṭāniya
Malayalammalമൌറിത്താനിയ, മൗരിട്ടാനിയMauṟittāniya, Māuriṭṭāniya
Tamiltamமௌரித்தானியா, மொரித்தானியாMaurittāṉiyā, Morittāṉiyā
TelugutelమారిటేనియాMāriṭēniyā
Chinesezho毛里塔尼亞/毛里塔尼亚Máolǐtǎníyà
JapanesejpnモーリタニアMōritania
Koreankor모리타니아, 모리타니Moritania, Moritani
Tibetanbodམའུ་རི་ཏ་ནི་ཡ།Ma'u.ri.ta.ni.ya
Burmesemyaမော်ရီတေးနီးယားMɔẏitènìyà
Thaithaมอริทาเนีย, มอริเตเนียMɔ̄ritʰāniya, Mɔ̄ritēniya
Khmerkhmម៉ូរីតានី, មូរីតានីMūrītānī, Mūrītānī

Arabic and Hebrew give several spellings in use side by side; Persian, Berber and Kabyle add a Latin transliteration after the native script.

02 · NamesU+0637 ARABIC LETTER TAH

From Mauretania to Mūrītāniyā

Mauritania takes its name from Mauretania, the ancient Berber kingdom and later Roman province, which lay farther north along the Mediterranean coast. A French ministerial circular of 1899 used Mauritanie occidentale for the territory. Arab geographers had called the area بلاد شنقيط, Bilād Šinqīṭ, the land of Chinguetti, a town that is the seat of a department in Adrar.

Arabic spells the name موريتانيا, Mūrītāniyā, and also موريطانيا with an emphatic ṭ; Hebrew lists eight variants. Most European languages follow either the Latin Mauretania, as German and Swedish Mauretanien do, or the French Mauritanie. Turkish has Moritanya. Wolof uses an unrelated name, Gànnaar.

The capital is the second word every visitor meets. Arabic writes نواكشوط, Nuwākšūṭ, French Nouakchott; German makes it Nuakschott, Latvian Nuakšota and Lithuanian Nuakšotas.

03 · Nouakchott

Nouakchott in other languages

Nouakchott in 61 languages and variants, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639-3 codes and romanisation
LanguagesISO 639-3NameRomanised
English, French, Irish, Luxembourgisheng / fra / gle / ltzNouakchottsame as written
Azerbaijani, Turkmenaze / tukNuakşot / НуакшотNuakşot
German, Low Germandeu / ndsNuakschottsame as written
BosnianbosNouakchott / Нуакшот / نۆآقشۉتNouakchott
EsperantoepoNuakŝotosame as written
BasqueeusNuakchotsame as written
IcelandicislNúaksjottsame as written
Kurmanji KurdishkurNûakşotsame as written
LatvianlavNuakšotasame as written
LithuanianlitNuakšotassame as written
MoldovanmolNouakchott / НуакшотNouakchott
MalaymsaNouakchott / نواكچوتNouakchott
PolishpolNawakszutsame as written
PortugueseporNuakchottsame as written
SlovakslkNuakšottsame as written
SamogitiansmgNuakšuotssame as written
TetumtetNuakxotesame as written
TagalogtglNuakshotsame as written
UzbekuzbNuakshot / Нуакшот / نۇئەكشاتNuakshot
VolapükvolNävakjutsame as written
Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian, Ukrainianbul / mon / rus / ukrНуакшотNuakšot
Belarusian, Serbianbel / srpНуакшот / NuakšotNuakšot
BashkirbakНуакшот / NuakşotNuakşot
KazakhkazНуакшот / نۋاكشوت / NwakşotNwakşot
KyrgyzkirНуакшот / نۇاكشوت / NuakşotNuakşot
TatartatНуакшот / Nuakşot / نۇئاكشوتNuakşot
TajiktgkНуакшот / نوؤکشات / NuakşotNuakşot
Arabicaraنواكشوط, أنواكشوطNuwākšūṭ, Anwākšūṭ
South Azerbaijaniazbنواکشوت / NuakşotNuakşot
Persianfasنواکشوت / NuâkšotNuâkšot
PashtopusنواکشوتNuwākšōt
Uyghuruigنۇئاكشوت / Nuakshot / НуакшотNuakshot
UrduurdنواکشوتNuvākšōt
SyriacsyrܢܘܐܟܫܘܛNwākšōṭ
HebrewhebנואקשוטNūʾaqšōṭ
YiddishyidנואַקשאָטNuakšot
Amharicamhኑአክሾት, ኑዋክሾትNu'ăkšot, Nuwakšot
GreekellΝουακσότNoyaksót
ArmenianhyeՆուակշոտNouakšot
GeorgiankatნუაკშოტიNuakšoti
Nepalinepनोउक्चोट्Noukčoṭ
Bengalibenনৌয়াকচোটNôuyākčoṭ
PunjabipanਨੁਆਕਚੋਟNuākčoṭ
Kannadakanನೌಅಕ್ಚೊಟ್Nauakčoṭ
Malayalammalനുവാക്ച്ചോട്ട്Nuvākččōṭṭ
Tamiltamநவாக்ஷுட்Navākšuṭ
Telugutelనౌవాక్చొట్Nauvākčoṭ
Chinesezho努瓦克肖特Nǔwǎkèxiàotè
JapanesejpnヌアクショットNuakushotto
Koreankor누악쇼트Nuaksyoteu
Thaithaนูแอกชอต, นูอักชอตNū'ǣkčʰɔ̄t, Nū'âkčʰɔ̄t
KhmerkhmនូអាឆុតNū'āčʰut
04 · Regions

The 15 regions of Mauritania in Arabic and French

Mauritania has 15 regions (ولايات, wilāyāt; French régions). The list behind this page had 12 regions and the district of Nouakchott; in 2014 the capital district was split into three regions, which ISO 3166-2 codes MR-13 to MR-15. Each region is given in Arabic with a transliteration and in French, with its capital.

Mauritania, ISO 3166-2:MR: 15 regions
ISO 3166-2ArabicFrenchEnglishAdministrative centreChange
Regions ولايات wilāyāt15
MR-01 ولاية الحوض الشرقيWilāyâẗu l-Ḥawḍi š-ŠarqīRégion du Hodh ech Chargui Hodh ech Chargui النعمةNéma
MR-02 ولاية الحوض الغربيWilāyâẗu l-Ḥawḍi l-ĠarbīRégion du Hodh el Gharbi Hodh el Gharbi العيون العتروسAioun el Atrouss
MR-03 ولاية العصابةWilāyâẗu l-ʿAṣābâRégion de l’Assaba Assaba كيفةKiffa
MR-04 ولاية كوركولWilāyâẗu KūrkūlRégion du Gorgol Gorgol كيهيديKaédi
MR-05 ولاية البراكنةWilāyâẗu l-BarāknâRégion du Brakna Brakna ألاكAleg
MR-06 ولاية الترارزةWilāyâẗu t-TarārzâRégion du Trarza Trarza روصوRosso
MR-07 ولاية أدرارWilāyâẗu AdrārRégion de l’Adrar Adrar أطارAtar
MR-08 ولاية داخلة نواذيبوWilāyâẗu Dāḫilâẗi NawāḏībūRégion de Dakhlet Nouadhibou Dakhlet Nouâdhibou نواذيبوNouadhibou
MR-09 ولاية تكانتWilāyâẗu TakānitRégion du Tagant Tagant تجكجةTidjikdja
MR-10 ولاية غيديماغاWilāyâẗu ĠīdīmāġāRégion du Guidimakha Guidimaka سيلبابيSélibaby
MR-11 ولاية تيرس زمورWilāyâẗu Tīris ZammūrRégion du Tiris Zemmour Tiris Zemmour الزويراتZouérate
MR-12 ولاية إنشيريWilāyâẗu InšīrīRégion de l’Inchiri Inchiri أكجوجتAkjoujt
MR-13was MR-NKC انواكشوط الغربيةNuwākshūţ al GharbīyahNouakchott-Ouest Nouakchott-Ouest Tevragh Zeina 2014 Formed on 25 November 2014 from the Nouakchott district (MR-NKC)
MR-14was MR-NKC انواكشوط الشماليةNuwākshūţ ash ShamālīyahNouakchott-Nord Nouakchott-Nord Dar Naim 2014 Formed on 25 November 2014 from the Nouakchott district (MR-NKC)
MR-15was MR-NKC انواكشوط الجنوبيةNuwākshūţ al JanūbīyahNouakchott-Sud Nouakchott-Sud Arafat 2014 Formed on 25 November 2014 from the Nouakchott district (MR-NKC)

Codes: ISO 3166-2:MR on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:MR (the 2013 version still shows MR-NKC), checked 28 October 2026. For the three Nouakchott regions the Arabic name and romanisation are those ISO publishes; their capitals and the date of the split are from Wikipedia's Regions of Mauritania and Nouakchott, citing Statoids.

The departments (moughataa) of every region

05 · Changes

Twelve regions and a district become fifteen

The list behind this page shows twelve regions and the capital district. The one change since came on 25 November 2014, when Nouakchott was divided into three regions, Nouakchott-Nord, Nouakchott-Ouest and Nouakchott-Sud. ISO replaced the code MR-NKC with MR-13, MR-14 and MR-15.

Below the regions are the moughataa (مقاطعة, muqāṭaʿa), called départements in French. The list on the departments page gives 44 of them; Wikipedia counts 63 for 2023, so several regions have gained departments since.

06 · AnthemU+0646 ARABIC LETTER NOON

The national anthem of 1960 to 2017

Mauritania's first anthem took its words from a poem by Baba Ould Cheikh Sidiya; it was set to music in 1960. A new anthem replaced it on 28 November 2017. The twelve lines of the old text, in Arabic and transliterated:

  • كن للاله ناصرا وأنكر المناكرا (kun lil-ilāhi nāṣirān w-ankira l-manākirā)
  • وكن مع الحق الذي يرضاك منك دائرا (wa-kun maʿa l-ḥaqqi ḏ-ḏī yarḍāku minka dāʾirā)
  • ولا تعد نافعا سواه أو ضائرا (wa-lā taʿuddu nāfiʿā siwāhu aw ḍāʾirā)
  • واسلك سبيل المصطفى ومت عليه سائرا (w-asuluk sabīla l-muṣṭafá wa-mutt ʿalayhi sāʾirā)
  • فما كفى أولنا أليس يكفي الأخرا (fa-mā kafá awwalanā alaysa yakfī l-aḫirā)
  • وكن لقوم احدثوا في أمره مهاجرا (wa-kun li-qawmin aḥdaṯūʾ fī amrihi muhāǧirā)
  • قد موهوا بشبه واعتذروا معاذرا (qad mawwahūʾ bi-šibhin w-aʿtaḏirūʾ maʿāḏirā)
  • وزعموا مزاعما وسودوا دفاترا (wa-zaʿamūʾ mazāʿimā wa-sawwadūʾ dafātirā)
  • واحتنكوا أهل الفلا واحتنكوا الحواضرا (w-aḥtanakūʾ ahla l-falā w-aḥtanakūʾ l-ḥawāḍirā)
  • وأورثت أكابر بدعتها أصاغرا (w-awraṯat akābira bi-daʿtuhā aṣāġirā)
  • وإن دعا مجادل في أمرهم إلى مرا (wa-in daʿā muǧādilun fī amrihim ilá mirā)
  • فلا تمار فيهم إلا مراء ظاهرا (fa-lā tumāri fīhim ilá mirāʾa ẓāhirā)
07 · Questions

Questions about the names and regions of Mauritania

What is Mauritania called in Arabic?

موريتانيا, Mūrītāniyā; officially الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

How many regions does Mauritania have?

15 since November 2014, when the Nouakchott district was split into three regions. ISO 3166-2 codes them MR-01 to MR-15.

What are the ISO codes of Mauritania?

MR (alpha-2), MRT (alpha-3) and 478 (numeric) in ISO 3166-1.