Is Nouakchott safe?
Mauritania · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Nouakchott is a city in Mauritania, home to about 1.6M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,842 of 6,168, with a safety score of 74.7 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 101 · Fire 118 · Police 117
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Mauritania, updated 2026-08-17.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country9 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Mauritania as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Eastern Mauritania
- Mauritania-Mali border
- Mauritania-Western Sahara border
- Tiris Zemmour, Adrar, Tagant, Hodh el Gharbi, Assaba, Gorgol and Guidimaka provinces
- the areas west of a line running between Choum, Ouadane and where the 10th Meridian West meets latitude 18° 40°
- the town of Ouadane
- the Tidjikja-Tichit road
- the Aleg to Tidjikja road via Moudjeria and all areas of Tagant west of that road
- the Bogue to Kaedi road via Bababe
Named in the official UK travel advice for Mauritania (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Nouakchott.
How safe is Nouakchott really?
No published homicide figure exists for Nouakchott itself, so the national rate stands in: Mauritania recorded 1.0 homicides per 100,000 people in 2020 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Mauritania is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 32.0), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.
Nouakchott also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 2 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Mauritania at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-08-17). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 9 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Mauritania
Terrorism in Mauritania · Political situation · Crime · Personal ID · Religion · Ramadan · Alcohol and pork products ban · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Dress code · Using cameras · LGBT+ travellers · Accessing money · Road travel · Driving standards · +1 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Mauritania — country-level, not specific to Nouakchott. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 1.0 /100knational rate, 2020
- Conflict deaths
- 2within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 32.0country, 2019
- Human development
- HDI 0.563country, 2023
- Income
- $7,640/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 1.6Murban centre · 8,306/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 25.6 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 56/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 42/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 30/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.47Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 46.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.3 doctors /1k0.4 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 70 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Mauritania
- Drought
- 8.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 6.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 1.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Mauritania as a whole, not Nouakchott specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Mauritania, with the death penalty applying in law (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Mauritania; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Nouakchott that gives 74.7/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Nouakchott compared with Touba
| Measure | Nouakchott | Touba | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 74.7 | 77.2 | −2.5 — better for Touba |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 1.0 /100k | no data | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 2 | 0 | +2 — better for Touba |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 32.0 | 36.2 | −4.2 — better for Nouakchott |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.563 | 0.530 | +0.033 — better for Nouakchott |
| Road deaths | 25.6 /100k | 23.5 /100k | +2.1 /100k — better for Touba |
| Rule of law | 42/100 | 53/100 | −11/100 — better for Touba |
| Corruption perceptions | 30/100 | 46/100 | −16/100 — better for Touba |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 46.5 µg/m³ | 41.6 µg/m³ | +4.9 µg/m³ — better for Touba |
| Natural-hazard risk | 5.3/10 | 4.6/10 | +0.7/10 — better for Touba |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Touba →
Nearby cities
- Saint-Louis, Senegal 77.2
- Louga, Senegal 77.2
- Nouadhibou 77.7
- Touba, Senegal 77.2
- Tivaouane, Senegal 77.2
- Thiès, Senegal 77.2
- Diourbel, Senegal 77.2
- Dakar, Senegal 77.2
See Nouakchott on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →