International Driving Permit in Mauritania

🗓 Facts checked against official government guidance for Mauritania and other official sources. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in Mauritania: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Mauritania?
• What side of the road does Mauritania drive on?
• How long can you drive in Mauritania with a foreign licence?
• Is Mauritania a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Mauritania with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Mauritania? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Mauritania tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Mauritania
• Sources

Driving in Mauritania: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Mauritania?

Mauritania is not a party to the 1926, 1949 (Geneva) or 1968 (Vienna) road-traffic conventions - it does not appear in the UN Treaty Collection participant tables for either instrument, unlike neighbouring Morocco, Algeria, Mali and Senegal. Two consequences follow. First, no IDP edition has treaty force in Mauritania: an IDP is not a document Mauritania is obliged to recognise, and it is not a legal requirement for visitors. Second, no convention obliges Mauritania to recognise foreign national licences either, so recognition rests entirely on Mauritanian domestic law - and no consolidated Mauritanian code de la route or licensing decree could be reached online during this verification. What is documented is guidance-tier and origin-specific: UK FCDO states 'You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in Mauritania. If you still have a paper driving licence, you may need to update it to a photocard licence.' That is advice to UK nationals, not a statement of Mauritanian law, and it must not be generalised to other origins. Practically, an IDP remains worth carrying: it is inexpensive, it supplies a French- and Arabic-readable rendering of the licence for police checkpoints and rental desks, and it costs nothing to have if unused. It does not replace the home national licence, which must be carried alongside it.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: carry your national licence together with the document named in the row for your country of issue, in the table below — for most origin licences that document is not an IDP, so read your own answer rather than assuming one.
• Car renters: Carry your home national licence, passport, vehicle registration, rental agreement and insurance papers at all times, plus photocopies. Police checkpoints are routine once you leave Nouakchott.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Foreign-government travel advice.

What side of the road does Mauritania drive on?

Mauritania drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Cars in Mauritania are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in Mauritania with a foreign licence?

Not established. No Mauritanian day cap, entry-clock or status clock for visitor use of a foreign licence could be sourced. No official text sets a period, and none should be published as if one existed. Treat the practical entitlement as running only while the visitor holds lawful short-stay immigration status and the home national licence remains valid; anyone staying long enough to take up residence should assume a separate, unverified residence clock applies (see the residents section below). (Negative result: no Mauritanian primary or official-guidance text on visitor licence validity periods reachable)

Planning to move to Mauritania? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is Mauritania a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Mauritania is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Mauritania, and convention rules do not bind it — licence acceptance is governed purely by local law and bilateral arrangements.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in Mauritania with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Mauritania as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Mauritania is not a party to the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna road-traffic conventions, so no International Driving Permit edition has treaty force there and no convention obliges Mauritania to recognise foreign licences. No Mauritanian law setting out how visitors may use a foreign licence could be sourced online, so this row is built on guidance rather than statute: UK government advice confirms a UK photocard may be used, and visitors from other origins in practice drive on their home national licence. Because Arabic is the official language and French the administrative one, drivers whose licence is not in Arabic or Latin script should carry a certified translation or an IDP, which is also the simplest document to hand a checkpoint officer. Note that most visitor driving here is in hired 4WDs, often with a driver, and that large parts of the country are under FCDO advice against travel. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

What the Status column means on this page:

• National licence OK — the destination lets a visitor drive on the national licence itself. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis, and any period or condition that qualifies it.
• National licence OK — IDP advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, but carrying one is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.
• IDP or translation — your national licence needs a supporting document alongside it. Which ones the destination accepts, and whether an official IDP can be issued for your licence at all, are in the row for your country of issue, in the table below.
• Not recognised — the record shows no route to drive here as a visitor on this licence; ask the local authorities about conversion or a temporary permit. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what stands in the way.
• Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be confirmed.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] Inference from Mauritania's official (Arabic) and administrative (French) languages; no Mauritanian script provision located

[2] UN Treaty Collection, Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General — status of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-1) and of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-19) — XI-B-1, XI-B-19

[a] Licence categories do not follow the convention A–E scheme — rental staff may ask for an IDP to map them.

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to Mauritania? Rules for new residents

Not established. Anyone taking up residence in Mauritania should expect to need a Mauritanian licence, but no deadline, conversion route or exam-free conversion list could be sourced.

Driving rules in Mauritania tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: No statutory Mauritanian mandatory-equipment list could be sourced. Practically, for the desert and coastal routes that make up most driving here: spare tyres, jack and tools, tow rope and recovery boards, warning triangle and hi-vis, extended water and fuel, and a satellite phone or other off-network communications.
• Drink-driving: No published statutory blood-alcohol limit for drivers was located. It is however illegal for anyone in Mauritania to import or consume alcohol - FCDO: 'It is illegal for Muslims and non-Muslims to import or consume alcohol and pork products in Mauritania.' Treat the driving rule as absolute zero; the exposure is a criminal alcohol offence rather than a traffic-code BAC breach. Not established. No Mauritanian drink-driving penalty schedule could be sourced. Penalties for the underlying alcohol offence are criminal and, for foreign nationals, may carry immigration consequences.
• Speed limits: Traffic drives on the right. No current consolidated Mauritanian national speed schedule could be sourced - obey posted limits, and note that FCDO warns 'traffic rules are rarely respected and paved roads are generally in poor condition'.
• Carry your home national licence, passport, vehicle registration, rental agreement and insurance papers at all times, plus photocopies. Police checkpoints are routine once you leave Nouakchott.
• Use a 4-wheel-drive vehicle, avoid driving at night, do a maintenance check before setting out, check tide times on coastal routes, and carry enough water and fuel for long journeys.
• Travel in convoy with an experienced guide when leaving urban areas, including to the desert tourist sites at Chinguetti and Tichit.
• Expect poor road conditions and poor driving standards - drive defensively and allow far more time than distances suggest.
• Check FCDO regional advice before planning any route: as of 24 March 2026 the FCDO advises against all travel to eastern Mauritania and to within 25km of the Mali border, and against all but essential travel to seven provinces and to within 25km of the Western Sahara border. Insurance and rental cover typically lapse in advise-against zones.

Read more about driving in Mauritania

• 10 Interesting Facts About Mauritania

Watch what driving in Mauritania looks like

A few minutes of real POV footage is the fastest way to feel confident before your first drive in Mauritania:

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. UN Treaty Collection - status of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (Mauritania absent from the participant list)
3. UN Treaty Collection - status of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (Mauritania absent from the participant list)
4. UK FCDO Mauritania travel advice - Getting help (emergency service numbers)
5. UK FCDO Mauritania travel advice - warnings and advise-against-travel regions (updated 24 March 2026)
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic