Mauritania
Profiled in Nouakchott · North Africa
Where the Sahara meets the Atlantic, with the world's longest train hauling iron ore across the desert and Saharan library towns holding medieval manuscripts.
Cost of living
What a month costs
Nouakchott is a costly, sand-blown capital where nearly all consumer goods are imported. Fish is cheap and plentiful on the coast.
The scores
How it rates for a moving family
See and do
Top 10 in Nouakchott
- ChinguettiUNESCO-listed ksar and manuscript libraries in the Adrar.
- Banc d'Arguin National ParkSandbanks and migratory bird colonies on the Atlantic.
- OuadaneRuined Saharan caravan town, a UNESCO site.
- Port de PêcheNouakchott's beach fishing port with hundreds of pirogues.
- Richat StructureThe Eye of the Sahara, a forty-kilometre geological dome.
- OualataPainted desert town in the far south-east, a UNESCO site.
- Terjit OasisHot and cold springs beneath a palm canyon.
- Nouakchott Grand MosqueThe Saudi-funded mosque at the city's centre.
Where to go
Weekend escapes
- Banc d'ArguinUNESCO coastal park and one of the world's great bird sites.
- ChinguettiSaharan library town with medieval manuscripts.
- Iron Ore TrainRiding the world's longest train from Zouérat to Nouadhibou.
- TerjitPalm oasis in the Adrar escarpment.
- NouadhibouNorthern port with a famous ship graveyard.
Residency
Residence follows work or business permits. There is no investor route, and offshore gas projects are governed by separate contracts. Slavery was criminalised only in 2007 and remains a documented issue.
Tax
Personal rates reach 40% and the corporate rate is 25%, with 16% VAT. A minimum turnover tax applies. There is no wealth or inheritance tax.
Curious what you would actually pay? See the Mauritania tax profile: income, corporate, VAT and exit rules →
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