2274 MAURITANIA - The mosques of Nouakchott

2274 Nouakchott: Grand Mosque; Moroccan Mosque; Friday Mosque.

The people of  Mauritania are nearly all adherents of Sunni Islam of Maliki school of jurisprudence, influenced with Sufism, and because of the ethnic and tribal divisions in the country, religion is seen by the government as essential for national unity. Since independence in 1960, Mauritania has been an Islamic republic, and the Constitutional Charter of 1985 declares Islam the state religion and sharia the law of the land. It is one of thirteen countries in the world which punishes atheism by death.

1093 MAURITANIA - The fishermen of Mauritania

When they hear the name of Mauritania, many people imagine the burning sands of the Sahara, nomads swathed in wind-blown robes and camel trains moving through the heat haze. Nothing wrong, but they forget that this country is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, having a coastal zone of about 754km in length. Probably that most of the mauritanians haven't ever see the ocean, even if this coast is one of the richest fishing grounds in the world.