Mauritania is one of the few remaining areas of the world, which offers a feeling of medieval lifestyles by preserving a number of impressive structures and traditions. It also offers you the experience of the world's longest train at Nouadhibou, the world's second largest monolith at Ben Amera, the spectre of a natural circular formation or "Eye of Africa" and the 7th holiest city of Islam at Chinguetti. Absorbing a landscape of 1,030,700 square kilometres in the west of the African continent, Mauritania has an abundance of fantastic nature amidst its arid and semi-arid surface area. Plateaus and its surrounding scarps only interrupt the vast flat but dry landscape; the Adrar Plateau is the highest of them all, reaching an elevation of 500 meters. The isolated peaks of Mauritania are of special attraction where the smaller peaks are called ‘Guelbs’ and the larger ones ‘Kedias’.
Mauritana was originally inhabited by Bafours, who were later displaced by migrating Berber tribes from North Africa. Around 11th century, Islamic faith arrived in the country and the Portuguese came in the 15th century. French invasion took place in 19th century and present-day Mauritania became a French Overseas territory in 1946. Mauritania became an independent nation on November 28, 1960 and was admitted to the United Nations in 1961.