Portal:Mauritania

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The Mauritania Portal - بوابة موريتانيا

Flag of Mauritania Seal of Mauritania

Mauritania, formally the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest. By land area Mauritania is the 11th-largest country in Africa and 28th-largest in the world; 90% of its territory is in the Sahara. Most of its population of some 4.3 million lives in the temperate south of the country, with roughly a third concentrated in the capital and largest city, Nouakchott, on the Atlantic coast.

The country's name derives from Mauretania, the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic. Berbers occupied what is now Mauritania by beginning of the third century AD. Groups of Arab tribes migrated to this area in the late seventh century, bringing with them Islam, Arab culture, and the Arabic language. In the early 20th century, Mauritania was colonized by France as part of French West Africa. It achieved independence in 1960, but has since experienced recurrent coups and periods of military dictatorship. The 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état was led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who won subsequent presidential elections in 2009 and 2014. He was succeeded by General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani following the 2019 elections, head of an autocratic government with a very poor human rights record, particularly because of its perpetuation of slavery; the 2018 Global Slavery Index estimates there are about 90,000 slaves in the country (or 2.1% of the population)..

Despite an abundance of natural resources, including iron ore and petroleum, Mauritania remains poor; its economy is based primarily on agriculture, livestock, and fishing. Mauritania is culturally and politically part of the Arab world; it is a member of the Arab League and Arabic is the official language. The official religion is Islam, and almost all inhabitants are Sunni Muslims. Despite its prevailing Arab identity, Mauritanian society is multiethnic; the Bidhan, or so-called "white moors", make up 30% of the population, while the Haratin, or so-called "black moors", comprise 40%. Both groups reflect a fusion of Arab-Berber ethnicity, language, and culture. The remaining 30% of the population comprises various sub-Saharan ethnic groups. (Full article...)

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Slavery has been called "deeply rooted" in the structure of the northwest African country of Mauritania and estimated to be "closely tied" to the ethnic composition of the country, although it has also been estimated that "Widespread slavery was traditional among ethnic groups of the largely nonpastoralist south, where it had no racial origins or overtones; masters and slaves alike were black", despite the cessation of slavery across other African countries and an official ban on the practice since 1905.

The French colonial administration declared an end to slavery in Mauritania in 1905. Mauritania ratified in 1961 the Forced Labour Convention, having already enshrined abolition of slavery, albeit implicitly, in its 1959 constitution. In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to officially abolish slavery, when a presidential decree abolished the practice. However, no criminal laws were passed to enforce the ban. In 2007, under international pressure, the government passed a law allowing slaveholders to be prosecuted.

Despite the official abolition of slavery, the 2018 Global Slavery Index estimated the number of slaves as 90,000 (or 2.1% of the population), a reduction from the 155,600 reported in the 2014 index in which Mauritania ranked 31st of 167 countries by total number of slaves and first by prevalence, with 4% of the population. The Mauritanian government ranks 121st of 167 in its response to all forms of modern slavery. In 2017, the BBC claimed that a total of 600,000 were living in slavery.

A November 2009 United Nations mission headed by UN special rapporteur Gulnara Shahinian evaluated slavery practices in Mauritania. In an August 2010 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the mission concluded that "despite laws, programmes and difference of opinion with regard to the existence of slavery in Mauritania, ... de-facto slavery continues to exist in Mauritania." (Full article...)

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Mauritania sent a delegation to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia from 15 September to 1 October 2000. This was the African nation's fifth time competing at the Summer Olympic Games. The Mauritanian delegation consisted of two track and field athletes, Sidi Mohamed Ould Bidjel and Fatou Dieng. Neither advanced beyond the first round of their respective events. (Full article...)

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Nouakchott Ten Hamadi Malouma Mauritania at the 2012 Summer Olympics Mauritania at the 2008 Summer Olympics Mauritania at the 2004 Summer Olympics

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The following are images from various Mauritania-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1After the Portuguese, the Dutch, and then the French, took control of Arguin until abandoning it in 1685. (from Mauritania)
Image 2The Portuguese Empire ruled Arguin (Portuguese: Arguim) from 1445, after Prince Henry the Navigator set up a feitoria, until 1633. (from Mauritania)
Image 32011–12 Mauritanian protests. (from Mauritania)
Image 4Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi (from Mauritania)
Image 5Mauritanian blogger and political prisoner Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir. (from Mauritania)
Image 6Rock art in the Sahara Desert (from Mauritania)
Image 7French West Africa, circa 1913 (from History of Mauritania)
Image 8Camel market in Nouakchott (from Mauritania)
Image 9A Moorish family in the Adrar Plateau. (from Mauritania)
Image 10Qur'an collection in a library in Chinguetti (from Mauritania)
Image 11Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in his hometown, Akjoujt, on 15 March 2009. (from Mauritania)
Image 12Chinguetti was a center of Islamic scholarship in West Africa. (from Mauritania)
Image 13Terjit oasis in the Adrar Region (from Mauritania)
Image 14Sandy area west of Chinguetti (from Mauritania)
Image 15Nouakchott is the capital and the largest city of Mauritania. It is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. (from Mauritania)

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Religions in Mauritania

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WikiProjects

You are invited to participate in WikiProject Mauritania, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Mauritania.

WikiProject Africa

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Topics in Mauritania

Cities and towns

v t e Largest cities or towns in Mauritania citypopulation.de
	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
Nouakchott Nouadhibou	1	Nouakchott	Nouakchott	1,195,600	Kiffa
	2	Nouadhibou	Dakhlet Nouadhibou	118,167
	3	Kiffa	Assaba	60,005
	4	Néma	Hodh Ech Chargui	57,000
	5	Rosso	Traza	51,026
	6	Kaédi	Gorgol	45,539
	7	Zouérat	Tiris Zemmour	44,469
	8	Sélibaby	Guidimaka	26,420
	9	Atar	Adrar	25,190
	10	Aïoun	Hodh El Gharbi	22,796