Mauritania (Arabic: موريتانيا Mūrītāniyā), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in North-West Africa. It is borered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco controlled Western Sahara on the northwest. It is named after the ancient Berber kingdom of Mauretania. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast.