Crossroad between North Africa and sub Saharan countries, Mauritania enjoys a pool of cultures. The 4 ancient cities located in the north of the country that are classified by UNESCO as world heritage still hold the vestige of a great and rich civilization. These cities served as a bridge for the regions and helped to develop economic and cultural activities. Today, these 4 cities are the most tourists’ destination spots of the country. The attractive and typical architecture < mosques , houses>, mahadras <mobile universities or universities of the desert>, libraries holding some of the most impressive manuscripts of the Islamic world and dealing with almost all  fields of knowledge are the basic remains of such a rich culture. In the south of the country, another component of Mauritanian people has succeeded to develop a rich culture based on folks <music, oral literature and so on...>

Today, Mauritanian authorities have set the fight against poverty and illiteracy as one of the most urgent of their priorities, there-fore , authorities have been engaged since the last 20 years on the promotion of education and knowledge < a 100 libraries have been built these last couple of years>.