Welcome country #205:
Well, that was the official Google version above. I like to add some human interest, and I will today focus on obesity. I've been warming my readers about this condition, how terrible it is, and one of those things in life you can do something about if you try. In Mauritania, there are FAT FARMS to get wives fat.
Historically, overweight women were a sign of wealth, with skinny girls deemed poor. Only a generation ago, a third of all women were force-fed as a child to get fat, for they then became more desirable. Wedding prospects improved.
It is different today, as perhaps only a tenth "suffer" this practice. Obesity is now considered to be old fashion.
Mauritania is larger in area than Egypt and Pakistan, but smaller than South Africa, and three times bigger than the state of New Mexico. Just about 100% of citizens are Muslim. Life expectancy is 61, with a GDP/capita of $2200. Their Human Development Index is 154 out of 177.
You don't want to visit Mauritania. The U.S. State Department advises extreme caution because of terrorism.
-
MAURITANIA POPULATION: 3,281,634
«  Previous Country | Next Country  » Back to Flag Counter Overview |  |
| Background | |
| 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 ushered in a military council government. AZIZ was subsequently elected president in July 2009 and sworn in the following month. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population (Afro-Mauritanians) and white and black Moor (Arab-Berber) communities, and is having to confront a growing terrorism threat by al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). |
Map data ©2012 MapLink, Tele Atlas -
|  |
Historically, overweight women were a sign of wealth, with skinny girls deemed poor. Only a generation ago, a third of all women were force-fed as a child to get fat, for they then became more desirable. Wedding prospects improved.
It is different today, as perhaps only a tenth "suffer" this practice. Obesity is now considered to be old fashion.
You don't want to visit Mauritania. The U.S. State Department advises extreme caution because of terrorism.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment