Hodh Ech Chargui is a large region

Regions of Mauritania

||Mauritania is divided into 12 regions and one capital district:During the Mauritanian occupation of Western Sahara , its portion of the territory was named Tiris al-Gharbiyya.The regions are subdivided into 44 departments; please see departments of Mauritania for further detail.-See also:*ISO...

 in eastern Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...

. Its capital is Néma

Néma

Néma is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around . It is the capital of Hodh Ech Chargui Region and of the Néma Department....

. Other major cities/towns include Oualata

Oualata

Oualata or Walata is a small oasis town in south east Mauritania that was important in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as the southern terminus of a trans-Saharan trade route...

. The region borders the Mauritanian regions of Adrar, Tagant

Tagant

Tagant is a region in south-central Mauritania named for the Tagant Plateau. Its capital is Tidjikdja. Other major cities/towns include Tichit and Rachid, Nbeika...

 and Hodh El Gharbi

Hodh El Gharbi

Hodh El Gharbi is a region in southern Mauritania. Its capital is Ayoun el Atrous. The region borders the Mauritanian regions of Tagant to the north, Hodh Ech Chargui to the east, Mali country to the south and Assaba to the west....

 to the west and Mali

Mali

Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...

 to the east and south.

Hodh Ech Chargui is divided into 6 departments:

• Amourj
  Amourj
  Amourj is a department in the Hodh Ech Chargui Region of eastern Mauritania. It shares a border to its south with Mali and to the north, east and west are the departments of Timbedra, Néma and Bassikounou.As of 2000 it had a population of 5,037.-References:...
  
  
• Bassikounou
• Djigueni
• Néma
  Néma
  Néma is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around . It is the capital of Hodh Ech Chargui Region and of the Néma Department....
  
  
• Oualata
  Oualata
  Oualata or Walata is a small oasis town in south east Mauritania that was important in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as the southern terminus of a trans-Saharan trade route...
  
  
• Timbedra
  Timbedra
  Timbedra is a commune and town in the Hodh Ech Chargui Region of south-eastern Mauritania.-Transport:The town is served by Timbedra Airport and Dahara Airport....
  
  

About

Hodh Ech Chargui (or Hodh el Sharqui) is estimated to be the most populous of Mauritania's regions (outside of the city of Nouakchott

Nouakchott

-Government:The town was first divided into districts in 1973. First it was divided into four. From 1986, the city has been split into nine districts.* Arafat* Dar Naim* El Mina* Ksar* Riad* Sebkha* Tevragh-Zeina* Teyarett* Toujounine...

. Estimates in 2008 were 200,000 people living in Hodh ech Chargui. The region sees many travelers going through to Mali, either south through Bassikenou to Bamako or east to Timbuktu. The major population centers are far-spread and many people fall under the poverty level, making it easy for extremist groups like Al Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) to infiltrate and work.

See also:

• Regions of Mauritania
  Regions of Mauritania
  ||Mauritania is divided into 12 regions and one capital district:During the Mauritanian occupation of Western Sahara , its portion of the territory was named Tiris al-Gharbiyya.The regions are subdivided into 44 departments; please see departments of Mauritania for further detail.-See also:*ISO...
  
  
• Districts of Mauritania