The local administration is adopted from French local administration framework with a Ministry of Internal Control governing the local bodies. The original administration was held by Governors of each district, but after the municipal elections in 1994, the powers has been decentralized from the district bodies. Mauritania has been divided into 13
wilayas (regions), including the Nouakchott Capital District. The smallest administrative division in the country is the commune and the country has 216 of them. A group of communes form a
moughataa (department) and the group of
moughataa form a district. There are total of 53
moughataa for the 13 districts in the country. The executive power of the district is vested on a district chief, while it is on
hakem for
moughataa. Out of the 216 communes, 53 classified as urban, and the remaining 163 are rural. The communes are responsible for overseeing and coordinating development activities and are financed by the state. The Local Governments have their own legal jurisdiction, financial autonomy, an annual budget, staff, and an office. The elections for the local government are conducted every five years along with Regional and Parliamentary elections. On account of the political instability, the last elections were held in 2023. Adrar is divided into four departments, namely,
Aoujeft Department,
Atar Department,
Chinguetti Department and
Ouadane Department. ==See also==