Assaba: population, electricity, water, jobs, health, schooling and household wealth
Assaba is a wilaya of Mauritania, number 4 of 15 by population. The 2023 General Population and Housing Census (RGPH-5) counted 451,804 residents in Assaba, 203,189 men and 248,615 women; that is 9.2% of Mauritania's 4,927,532 people and 4th largest of the 15 wilayas by population.
In depth
- Economy, jobs and prices in Assaba: 24% of households in Assaba had access to electricity at the 2023 census, joint 5th lowest of the 15 wilayas; across the wilayas the share ranged from 13% to 96%.
- Health in Assaba: For every 1,000 babies born in Assaba in the ten years before the 2019-2021 survey, 41 died before their first birthday and 53 before their fifth; the under-five rate is 3rd highest of the 14 survey areas (Mauritania, last five years: 33 and 41).
- Education in Assaba: 53.3% of primary-school-age children in Assaba were attending primary school in 2019-2021 (net attendance rate), 5th lowest of the 14 survey areas (Mauritania: 56.0%).
Are there more men or women in Assaba?
Women made up 55.0% of Assaba's population at the 2023 census (Mauritania: 51.8%).
Source: Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse Démographique et Economique (ANSADE) · saved copyHow young is the population of Assaba?
46.6% of Assaba's residents were children under 15 at the 2023 census (210,601), 3rd highest share of the 15 wilayas (Mauritania: 41.5%).
Source: Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse Démographique et Economique (ANSADE) · saved copyHow many children do women in Assaba have?
At the birth rates of the three years before the 2019-2021 Demographic and Health Survey, a woman in Assaba would have 5.7 children in her lifetime (total fertility rate), 7th highest of the 14 survey areas (Mauritania: 5.2).
Source: Office National de la Statistique (ONS, now ANSADE) and Ministère de la Santé, with ICF (The DHS Program) · saved copyHow poor is Assaba?
35.4% of people in Assaba lived in households in the poorest fifth of Mauritania by household wealth (assets and housing) in 2019-2021, and 5.4% in the richest fifth; the poorest-fifth share is 2nd highest of the 14 survey areas (each fifth is 20% nationally).
Source: Office National de la Statistique (ONS, now ANSADE) and Ministère de la Santé, with ICF (The DHS Program) · saved copyAre births in Assaba registered?
38.7% of children under five in Assaba had their birth registered with the civil registry in 2019-2021, 4th lowest of the 14 survey areas (Mauritania: 44.8%).
Source: Office National de la Statistique (ONS, now ANSADE) and Ministère de la Santé, with ICF (The DHS Program) · saved copyHow wilayas are governed in Mauritania
Regions (13, matching the wilayas; Nouakchott region covers 3 wilayas). Regional council (11–25 members; 37 in Nouakchott) and its president elected by voters for five years. Regional development; created by Organic Law 2018-010.
Every tier of government in Mauritania
Other wilayas of Mauritania
- Nouakchott-Sud 627,415
- Hodh Ech Chargui 625,643
- Nouakchott-Nord 614,465
- Gorgol 442,490
- Hodh El Gharbi 403,091
- Brakna 391,310
- Guidimakha 363,075
- Trarza 323,903
- Nouakchott-Ouest 204,881
- Dakhlet Nouadhibou 184,459
- Tagant 114,760
- Tiris Zemmour 79,129
- Adrar 71,623
- Inchiri 29,484
Up a level: Mauritania · government and power in Mauritania
Sources
- Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse Démographique et Economique (ANSADE): RGPH-5 Atlas Démographique, October 2025 (maps I-7-2, II-2-1, III-4-2 and III-4-3 by wilaya), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 dc101d7959c6…)
- Office National de la Statistique (ONS, now ANSADE) and Ministère de la Santé, with ICF (The DHS Program): Enquête Démographique et de Santé de la Mauritanie (EDSM) 2019-2021, final report: wilaya rows of Tables 2.1.2, 2.6, 2.11, 2.13, 3.3, 3.6, 3.9.1, 5.2, 8.1, 8.3, 9.1, 9.6, 10.3, 11.1 and 17.2, read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c0c593e154fd…)
- Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse Démographique et Economique (ANSADE): RGPH 2023: Population des Wilayas, Moughataa et Communes (final results of the 5th General Population and Housing Census), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 ab6f0a1f07d8…)
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