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The Mauritania Portal - بوابة موريتانيا

Flag of Mauritania Seal of Mauritania

Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (Arabic: الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-Islāmīyah al-Mūrītānīyah), 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 the ancient Berber kingdom of Mauretania in North Africa within the ancient Maghreb. Berbers occupied what is now Mauritania beginning in the third century AD. Arabs under the Umayyad Caliphate conquered the area in the late seventh century, bringing 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 most recent coup, in 2008, was led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who won subsequent presidential elections in 2009 and 2014. He was succeeded by Mohamed Ould Ghazouani following the 2019 elections, which were considered Mauritania's first peaceful transition of power since independence.

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.

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 generally seen as having a poor human rights record, and is particularly censured for the perpetuation of slavery as an institution within Mauritanian society, with an estimation by the 2018 Global Slavery Index of about 90,000 slaves in the country (or 2.1% of the population). (Full article...)

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Mauritanian youth protesters in Nouakchott on 25 April 2011

The 2011–2012 Mauritanian protests were a series of protests in Mauritania that started in January 2011, influenced by and concurrent with the Arab Spring, and continued into 2012. The mostly peaceful protest movement demanded that President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz institute political, economic, and legal reforms. Common themes of protest centered around civil-military relations, slavery (which had only recently been outlawed officially in Mauritania but was still widespread in the country), other human rights abuses the opposition accused the government of perpetrating, and economic issues.

The protests began after the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi and continued in what would come to be known as the February 25th Movement. Other protests, such as those against the census and student movements calling for Aziz's resignation, continued throughout 2011 and into 2012. As in other countries impacted by the Arab Spring, protestors used social media to coordinate and publicize demonstrations. The reaction of Mauritanian authorities to these protests varied, oscillating between explicit approval, ambivalence, and violent repression. (Full article...)

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Nouakchott (/nwækˈʃɒt, nwɑː-/; French: [nwakʃɔt]; Arabic: نواكشوط, romanized: Nuwākshūṭ; Berber: Nwakcoṭ, originally derived from Berber: Nawākšūṭ, "place of the winds") is the capital and largest city of Mauritania. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania.

Once a mid-sized coastal village, Nouakchott was selected as the capital for the nascent nation of Mauritania, with construction beginning in 1958. It was originally designed to accommodate a population of 15,000, but experienced significant population growth in the 1970s when many Mauritanians fled their home villages due to drought and increasing desertification. Many of the newcomers settled in slum areas of the city that were poorly maintained and extremely overcrowded. By the mid-1980s, Nouakchott's population was estimated to be between 400,000 to 500,000. (Full article...)

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Ten Hamadi Malouma Mauritania at the 2012 Summer Olympics Mauritania at the 2008 Summer Olympics Mauritania at the 2000 Summer Olympics Mauritania at the 2004 Summer Olympics

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

Image 1Mauritanian blogger and political prisoner Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir (from Mauritania)
Image 2French West Africa, circa 1913 (from History of Mauritania)
Image 3Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi (from Mauritania)
Image 4Chinguetti was a center of Islamic scholarship in West Africa. (from Mauritania)
Image 5The Portuguese Empire ruled Arguin (Portuguese: Arguim) from 1445, after Prince Henry the Navigator set up a feitoria, until 1633. (from Mauritania)
Image 6Sandy area west of Chinguetti (from Mauritania)
Image 72011–12 Mauritanian protests (from Mauritania)
Image 8Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in his hometown, Akjoujt, on 15 March 2009 (from Mauritania)
Image 9Rock art in the Sahara Desert (from Mauritania)
Image 10After the Portuguese, the Dutch, and then the French, took control of Arguin until abandoning it in 1685. (from Mauritania)
Image 11Qur'an collection in a library in Chinguetti (from Mauritania)
Image 12A Moorish family in the Adrar Plateau. (from Mauritania)
Image 13Camel market in Nouakchott (from Mauritania)
Image 14Nouakchott 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

Arab states

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WikiProjects

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

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Topics in Mauritania

Cities and towns

v t e Largest cities or towns in Mauritania citypopulation.de
	Rank	Name	Region	Municipal 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