MAURITANIA

Arabic is the official language of Mauritania, although Pulaar, Soninke, and Wolof are enshrined as national languages. Government business is done in Modern Standard Arabic, but the local form, called Hassaniya [i] after the Banu Hassan Bedouin tribe, dominates everyday life. This unique dialect incorporates some Amazigh words and grammar. Wolof, Soninke, and Pulaar are spoken in Black African communities near the southern borders with Senegal and Mali. French is also common, particularly in business, a relic of the country’s colonial past. Mauritania remains a member of L’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie [ii], an international NGO uniting French-speaking countries and communities.

Mauritanian society is divided between the White Moors (Bidan), Black Moors (Haratin), and Black Africans of various ethnicities. Slavery [iii] has historically been pervasive and remains widespread, despite official denials and efforts to end the practice. Mauritanian culture consists of a mixture of Arab and African traditions. This is exemplified in the widespread consumption of Moroccan-style mint tea and the national dish, thieboudienne, which originates from Wolof cuisine from Senegal. The “land of a thousand poets” echoes with traditional Moorish poetry and music, and numerous family libraries safeguard Mauritania’s written heritage, priceless manuscripts composed by renowned scholars of ancient desert cities.

Since independence in 1960, Mauritania has officially been an Islamic Republic. True to form, over 99% [iv] of the population are Sunni Muslims, and the country boasts a storied history of Islamic scholarship centered in the ancient oasis cities of the desert. Sufism and the Maliki school of jurisprudence [v] are particularly influential, as they are throughout Northwest Africa, despite the growing influence of Saudi-sponsored Salafism. While Mauritania suffered numerous attacks by extremists between 2005 and 2011, there have been no major incidents since then--a success attributed in part [vi] to the government enlisting prominent clerics to dialogue with jihadists and preach against radicalization.

As an Islamic Republic, the Mauritanian legal system is based on a mix of traditional Islamic jurisprudence and French civil law. The military has historically been very influential [vii] in political affairs, and the country has witnessed several coups, most recently in 2008. The leader of that coup, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was subsequently elected president despite accusations of fraud [viii] by some opposition leaders. After two terms, he was succeeded in 2019 by former ally Mohamed Ould Ghazouani in Mauritania’s first peaceful, democratic transition of power. The new administration has since undertaken efforts to combat endemic corruption [ix], including arresting Aziz for questioning

Historically, the Mauritanian economy was dominated by nomadic pastoralism and subsistence agriculture. Recurrent droughts since the 1970s, however, have forced much of the population into cities. Now, the Mauritanian economy is dominated by extractive industries [x], especially iron ore, crude oil, gold, copper, and phosphates, as well as fishing off the Atlantic coast. These two sectors account for the overwhelming majority of the country’s foreign exchange, leaving the economy vulnerable to price swings in international commodity markets. The currency, the Mauritanian ouguiya, is one of only two in the world not based on the decimal system (it is instead divided by five).

During the Middle Ages, many important trans-Saharan trade routes passed through the fabled oasis caravansaries of Mauritania. The French extended colonial control over Mauritania beginning in the 19th century, meeting fierce resistance from the independent emirs of the arid interior. After independence in 1960, President Mokhtar Ould Daddah struggled to balance [xi] Mauritania’s place between Francophone West Africa and Arab North Africa, eventually being deposed in a military coup in the midst of a catastrophic campaign in Western Sahara against the Polisario Front. A series of military coups and dictatorships ensued until Aziz’s election in 2009 inaugurated a more stable political system.

Mauritania is bordered to the north by Western Sahara and Algeria, to the south by Senegal, and to the southeast by Mali. It is generally considered [xii] part of both Arab North Africa and the Sahel. Most of the country’s land is extremely arid, with the population concentrated in wetter, more arable areas in the south near the Senegal River, and in the coastal capital, Nouakchott. Mauritania boasts some of the richest fisheries in the world off the Atlantic coast. The Saharan wilayas (regions) in the north are dotted with mining towns and ancient trading entrepots clustered around oases and mineral deposits.