Climate of Mauritania

Climate of Mauritania

Where is the country of Mauritania located? The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country on the west coast of Africa, with the northern half in the Sahara and the southeast in the Sahel. Mauritania has faced several coups d’état since its independence from France in 1960. Mauritania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a population of about half living below the poverty line. The predominantly dry landscape is fairly flat in structure, interspersed with a few sandstone plateaus. A striking natural phenomenon in Mauritania is the Richat structure. This scenic phenomenon, with a diameter of about fifty kilometers, is really only visible from the air.

Desert

Mauritania consists of about three quarters of desert. The entire country has to deal with a warm desert climate, with relatively few rainy days in a year and the average annual amount of precipitation in many places remains below two hundred or even below one hundred millimeters. An exception is the southwest, where cities such as Kaédi and Rosso arrive at two hundred to more than three hundred millimeters of precipitation per year. Due to climate change, the desert has been advancing since the 1960s, reducing the amount of land suitable for agriculture or cattle ranching.

High temperatures

The cool Canary Current provides relatively cool seawater along the coastal areas of Mauritania. As a result, coastal towns such as Nouakchott do not get as hot as inland, where maximum temperatures are between 30 and 45 degrees Celsius all year round and can occasionally get even warmer. Along the coast, during the hottest months, it gets about 36 to 38 degrees Celsius, which can still be called very warm. In the Sahel, during the warmest months of May and June, tropical temperatures even prevail at night. For example, the long-term average minimum temperature for the place Néma in these months is no less than thirty degrees.

Climate figures

The figures below are based on long-term average climate statistics. The temperatures are displayed in degrees Celsius (°C).

Maximum temperature Minimum temperature Hours of sunshine per day Days of rainfall per month Water temperature
January 28℃ 16℃ 8 1 20℃
February 31℃ 17℃ 8 1 19℃
March 33℃ 19℃ 9 1 19℃
April 34℃ 20℃ 9 1 19℃
May 35℃ 21℃ 9 1 19℃
June 36℃ 23℃ 8 2 21℃
July 32℃ 24℃ 8 7 24℃
August 33℃ 25℃ 8 8 26℃
September 36℃ 26℃ 8 7 27℃
October 37℃ 24℃ 8 5 26℃
November 34℃ 20℃ 8 2 24℃
December 30℃ 17℃ 7 2 22℃

Best time to visit Mauritania

Do you want to know when is the best time to travel to Mauritania? You can determine the best time to travel to a destination based on the weather and climate. In addition, there are other factors that are not directly related to the weather and that can influence the best travel periods for a travel destination. Think, for example, of holidays or festive periods, which makes traveling more interesting or not, because daily life comes to a standstill as a result. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country located in western Africa. The dry climate ensures that the landscape of Mauritania mainly consists of desert and steppe. In the south, where the country borders Senegal, there is an area with more rainfall. As a result, the landscape here has the property of becoming green in the wetter season. The climatic conditions make it difficult to practice agriculture in Mauritania. This is one of the reasons why things are not going too well in Mauritania economically. Tourism has barely developed. Too bad, because there are some beautiful places to discover, including the Banc d’Arguin National Park and the Chinguetti Mosque.

Best months

If you want to visit Mauritania, winter is the best time to do it. Especially the period from December to mid-Februarylends itself best to visit Mauritania. It is then dry throughout the country, the sun often shines and the most important thing is that the temperatures are not too high. In the Sahara you can count on 22 to 26 degrees during the day, in the Sahel the maximum temperatures in winter are around 25 to 30 degrees Celsius and in the south it is seriously warm. In the southern town of Sélibaby, which is located a few tens of kilometers from the border with Senegal, December and January are the least warm months with a maximum of about 31 to 35 degrees. In February it can easily reach 35 to 38 degrees in the afternoon and in March maximum temperatures of about 40 degrees are perfectly normal.

Mauritania