{"id":27775,"date":"2021-01-02T11:52:18","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T16:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mathkind.flywheelsites.com\/?post_type=global-math-stories&p=27775"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:28:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:28:47","slug":"mauritania","status":"publish","type":"global-math-stories","link":"https:\/\/mathkind.org\/es\/global-math-stories\/mauritania\/","title":{"rendered":"Mauritania"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MAURITANIA<\/h3>\n
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The Iron Ore Express<\/h1>\n

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By Chadd McGlone<\/p>\n

Chapel Hill, NC, United States<\/p>\n

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The Nouadhibou train station in Mauritania<\/strong> consists of a group of small white buildings in the middle of a sandy plain. Looking around, you see nothing but beige ground and blue sky. If you happen to be traveling to the small mining town of Zou\u00e9rat, the Iron Ore Express is an unforgettable way to go. This train is nearly 3 kilometers long and makes the 704-kilometer journey between Zou\u00e9rat and the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou each day.<\/p>\n

A Very Long Train<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though the Iron Ore Express is one of the world\u2019s longest trains, you might not see it from the track at first because of the massive cloud of sand it whips up. Once the train storms into the station, you would hear the loud rumbling of its four locomotives pulling more than 220 freight cars.<\/p>\n

All Aboard<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For a relatively small fare, you can buy a ticket for a passenger car, where you might find a perch on a wooden carriage seat. Once inside the crowded compartment, you will share your ride with many local men. They make the journey as comfortable as possible, spreading blankets over the floor and sharing biscuits and jam.<\/p>\n

Or, if you happened to spend your last ouguiya on a large bowl of thieboudienne<\/em> (a dish of fish and rice), you might be tempted by another way travelers have made the journey: resting atop the rocky cargo in an open freight car. The trip is free but extremely rough and dusty, with no shelter from the desert weather. Today, railway officials sometimes restrict passengers from riding this way.<\/p>\n

The Journey<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Traveling at a top speed of about 50 kilometers per hour, the Iron Ore Express passes small desert communities as it crosses northern Mauritania. One important stop is Choum, where departing riders hire taxis to continue their journeys beyond the sandy dunes. Schedules are unpredictable, and the entire trip between Nouadhibou and Zou\u00e9rat typically takes about 16 to 20 hours. Eventually, the hours of rumbling rails and blowing sand come to an end.<\/p>\n

Have a suggestion for this story? We\u2019d love for you to\u00a0submit it<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo “Le train 3 \u2018L\u2019 : le plus long, lourd et lent du monde<\/a>\u201d by Christophe Andr\u00e9. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo \u201cIron Ore Train, Mauritania, Sahara<\/a>\u201d by TheMoonIsBlue. Licensed under CC BY 3.0<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

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  1. If a standard freight car can carry about 85 tons of ore, how much ore does each train carry? Write a linear equation to model the amount of ore x<\/em>\u00a0 freight cars can carry.<\/li>\n
  2. How many cars can each locomotive pull?<\/li>\n
  3. If each ore car is 13.5 meters long, each locomotive is 20 meters long, and each passenger car is 12 meters long, about how long is the train?<\/li>\n
  4. If the entire trip takes 17 hours to complete and Choum is 6 hours from the beginning, what fraction of the entire trip have you traveled at that stop?<\/li>\n
  5. What is the maximum speed for the Iron Ore Express in miles per hour?<\/li>\n
  6. Mauritania gained independence from France in 1960. How many years has Mauritania been an independent country?<\/li>\n
  7. Because of severe drought and desertification of the land, the population in Mauritania\u2019s capital city, Nouakchott, grew from 134,700 to approximately 728,600 between 1977 and 2000. Likewise, Nouadhibou\u2019s population almost quintupled from 21,900 in 1997 to 107,900 in 2000.\n