Coordinates :
Mauritania ( ; [ 9 ] Arabic : موريتانيا, Mūrītānyā, french : Mauritanie ; Berber : Agawej or Cengit ; Pulaar : ???????? Moritani ; Wolof : Gànnaar ; Soninke : Murutaane ), formally the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( Arabic : الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية ), is a autonomous state 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 southeasterly, and Senegal to the southwest. Mauritania is the eleventh largest state in Africa, and 90 percentage of its territory is situated in the Sahara. Most of its population of 4.4 million lives in the moderate confederacy of the country, with roughly one third concentrated in the capital and largest city, Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast.
Reading: Mauritania
The state ‘s diagnose derives from the ancient Berber kingdom of Mauretania, located in contemporary Morocco and Algeria. Berbers occupied what is now Mauritania beginning in the third base hundred AD. Arabs conquered the area in the one-eighth century, bringing Islam, Arab culture, and the Arabic lyric. In the early twentieth hundred, Mauritania was colonized by France as part of french West Africa. It achieved independence in 1960, but has since experienced perennial 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. [ 10 ] He was succeeded by Mohamed Ould Ghazouani following the 2019 elections, which were considered Mauritania ‘s first passive transition of baron since independence. [ 11 ] Mauritania is culturally and politically part of the arabian world : it is a penis of the Arab League and Arabic is the exclusive official lyric. Reflecting its colonial inheritance, French is wide spoken and serves as a lingua franca. The official religion is Islam, and about all inhabitants are Sunni Muslims. Despite its prevail Arab identity, mauritanian club is multiethnic : the Bidhan, or alleged “ white moors ”, make up 30 percentage of the population, [ 12 ] while the Haratin, or alleged “ total darkness moors ”, comprise 40 percentage. [ 12 ] Both groups reflect a fusion of Arab-Berber ethnicity, language, and culture. The remaining 30 percentage of the population is made up of diverse sub-saharan heathen groups. Despite an abundance of natural resources, including iron ore and petroleum, Mauritania remains poor ; its economy is based primarily on farming, livestock, and fish. Mauritania is known for its inadequate homo rights record, most notably the continue practice of slavery, a leave of a historic caste system between the Bidhan and Haratin. It was the last area in the universe to abolish slavery, in 1981, and criminalized it merely in 2007 .
etymology [edit ]
Mauritania takes its name from the ancient Berber kingdom that flourished beginning in the one-third century BC and late became the Roman state of Mauretania, which flourished into the seventh century AD. however, the two territories do not overlap : historic Mauretania was well further north than modern Mauritania, as it was spread out along the stallion western half of the Mediterranean coast of Africa. The term Mauretania, in turn, derives from the Greek and Roman exonym for the Berber peoples of the region : the Mauri people. The password Mauri is besides the root of the name for the Moors. [ 13 ]
history [edit ]
history [edit ]
The ancient tribe of Mauritania were Berber, Niger-Congo, [ 14 ] and Bafour peoples. The Bafour were among the first Saharan people to abandon their previously mobile life style and adopt a chiefly agrarian one. In reaction to the gradual dehydration of the Sahara, they finally migrated southbound. [ 15 ] Many of the Berber tribes have claimed to have Yemeni ( and sometimes early Arab ) origins. There is little attest to support those claims, although a 2000 DNA survey of the Yemeni people did suggest there might be some ancient connection between the peoples. [ 16 ] other peoples besides migrated confederacy past the Sahara and into West Africa. According to a dubious Arab tradition [ 17 ] [ 18 ] the Almoravids travelled confederacy and conquered the ancient and extensive Ghana Empire around 1076. [ 19 ] From 1644 to 1674, the autochthonal peoples of the area that is modern Mauritania made what became their concluding effort to repel the Yemeni Maqil Arabs who were invading their territory. This attempt, which was abortive, is known as the Char Bouba war. The invaders were led by the Beni Hassan kin. The descendants of the Beni Hassan warriors became the upper level of moorish company. Hassaniya, a bedouin Arabic dialect named for the Beni Hassan, became the dominant language among the largely mobile population. [ 20 ] Berbers retained a niche influence by producing the majority of the region ‘s marabouts, as those who preserve and teach muslim tradition there are called. [ 20 ]
Colonial history [edit ]
After the Portuguese, the Dutch, and then the french, took control of Arguin until abandoning it in 1685. Starting in the former nineteenth century, France laid claim to the territories of contemporary Mauritania, from the Senegal River area northwards. In 1901, Xavier Coppolani took charge of the imperial deputation. [ 21 ] Through a combination of strategic alliances with Zawaya tribes and military pressure on the Hassane warrior nomads, he managed to extend french rule over the mauritanian emirates. Beginning in 1903 and 1904, the french armies succeeded in occupying Trarza, Brakna, and Tagant, but the northern emirate of Adrar held out longer, aided by the anti-colonial rebellion ( or jihad ) of shaykh Maa al-Aynayn and by insurgents from Tagant and the other occupied regions. In 1904, France organized the district of Mauritania, and it became part of french West Africa, first as a protectorate and former as a colony. In 1912, the french armies defeated Adrar, and incorporated it into the territory of Mauritania. [ 22 ] french principle brought legal prohibitions against bondage and an end to inter-clan war. During the colonial period, 90 % of the population remained mobile. Gradually, many individuals belonging to sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to migrate into Mauritania. Until 1960, the das kapital of french West Africa was Saint-Louis, in Senegal. When Senegal gained its independence that year, France chose Nouakchott as the web site of the raw capital of Mauritania. At the time, Nouakchott was little more than a spike greenwich village ( or “ksar” ). [ 23 ] After mauritanian independence, larger numbers of autochthonal sub-saharan african peoples ( Haalpulaar, Soninke, and Wolof ) migrated into it, most of them settling in the area north of the Senegal River. many of these modern arrivals had been educated in the french linguistic process and french customs, and became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state. At the like clock, the french were militarily suppressing the most adamant Hassane kin in the north. french atmospheric pressure on those tribes altered the existing counterweight of exponent, and new conflicts arose between the southern populations and the Moors. [ 24 ] [ clarification needed ] [ incomprehensible ] contemporary slavery still exists in different forms in Mauritania. [ 25 ] According to some estimates, thousands of Mauritanians are still enslaved. [ 26 ] [ 27 ] [ 28 ] A 2012 CNN report, “ Slavery ‘s survive Stronghold ”, by John D. Sutter, describes and documents the ongoing slave-owning cultures. [ 29 ] This social discrimination is applied chiefly against the “ black Moors ” ( Haratin ) in the northerly part of the country, where tribal elites among “ white Moors ” ( Bidh’an, Hassaniya-speaking Arabs and Arabized Berbers ) hold sway. [ 30 ] Slavery practices exist besides within the sub-saharan African heathen groups of the confederacy. The great Sahel droughts of the early on 1970s caused massive devastation in Mauritania, exacerbating problems of poverty and battle. The Arabized dominant elites reacted to changing circumstances, and to Arab patriot calls from abroad, by increasing pressure to Arabize many aspects of mauritanian biography, such as law and the education system. This was besides a reaction to the consequences of the french domination under the colonial convention. diverse models for maintaining the country ‘s cultural diverseness have been suggested, but none have been successfully implemented. This cultural discord was apparent during inter-communal ferocity that broke out in April 1989 ( the “ Mauritania–Senegal Border War “ ), but has since subsided. Mauritania expelled some 70,000 sub-saharan african Mauritanians in the late 1980s. [ 31 ] Ethnic tensions and the sensitive issue of bondage – past and, in some areas, present – are still potent themes in the country ‘s political debate. A significant number from all groups seek a more diverse, pluralistic society .
dispute with western Sahara [edit ]
Nouakchott is the capital and the largest city of Mauritania. It is one of the largest cities in the Sahara The International Court of Justice has concluded that in cattiness of some attest of both Morocco ‘s and Mauritania ‘s legal ties anterior to spanish colonization, neither set of ties was sufficient to affect the application of the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to Western Sahara. [ 32 ] Mauritania, along with Morocco, annexed the district of western Sahara in 1976, with Mauritania taking the lower one-third at the request of Spain, a former imperial exponent. After respective military losses from the Polisario – heavily armed and supported by Algeria, the regional exponent and rival to Morocco – Mauritania withdrew in 1979. Its claims were taken over by Morocco. Due to economic weakness, Mauritania has been a negligible actor in the territorial dispute, with its official side being that it wishes for an expedient solution that is mutually accordant to all parties. While most of western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco, the UN hush considers the western Sahara a territory that needs to express its wishes with respect to statehood. A referendum, primitively scheduled for 1992, is still supposed to be held at some point in the future, under UN auspices, to determine whether or not the autochthonal Sahrawis wish to be mugwump, as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, or to be depart of Morocco .
Ould Daddah era ( 1960–1978 ) [edit ]
Mauritania became an freelancer nation in November 1960. [ 33 ] In 1964 President Moktar Ould Daddah, in the first place installed by the french, validate Mauritania as a one-party state with a newfangled constitution, setting up an authoritarian presidential government. Daddah ‘s own Parti du Peuple Mauritanien ( PPM ) became the rule organization in a one-party system. The President justified this on the grounds that Mauritania was not ready for western-style multi-party democracy. Under this one-party constitution, Daddah was reelected in uncontested elections in 1976 and 1978. Daddah was ousted in a ashen coup d’etat on 10 July 1978. He had brought the country to near-collapse through the black war to annex the southerly separate of western Sahara, framed as an undertake to create a “ Greater Mauritania “ .
CMRN and CMSN military governments ( 1978–1984 ) [edit ]
Chinguetti was a center of Islamic scholarship in West Africa. Col. Mustafa Ould Salek ‘s CMRN junta proved incapable of either establishing a strong base of power or extracting the nation from its destabilizing conflict with the Sahrawi resistance movement, the Polisario Front. It promptly fell, to be replaced by another military government, the CMSN. The energetic Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah soon emerged as its strongman. By giving up all claims to western Sahara, he found peace with the Polisario and improved relations with its chief angel, Algeria. But relations with Morocco, the other party to the conflict, and its european ally France deteriorated. Instability continued, and Haidallah ‘s ambitious reform attempts foundered. His regimen was plagued by undertake coups and intrigue within the military establishment. It became increasingly contested due to his harsh and uncompromising measures against opponents ; many dissidents were jailed, and some executed. In 1981 slavery was formally abolished by law, making Mauritania the death nation in the world to do thus .
Ould Taya ‘s rule ( 1984–2005 ) [edit ]
In December 1984, Haidallah was deposed by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, who, while retaining nasty military control, relaxed the political climate. Ould Taya moderated Mauritania ‘s former pro-Algerian position, and re-established ties with Morocco during the late 1980s. He deepened these ties during the late 1990s and early 2000s, as share of Mauritania ‘s drive to attract corroborate from western states and Western-aligned Arab states. Mauritania has not rescinded its recognition of Polisario ‘s western Saharian expatriate government, and remains on good terms with Algeria. Its position on the western Sahara conflict has been, since the 1980s, one of rigid neutrality. The Mauritania–Senegal Border War started as a resultant role of a conflict in Diawara between Moorish Mauritanian herders and senegalese farmers over grazing rights. [ 34 ] On 9 April 1989, mauritanian guards killed two senegalese. [ 35 ] Following the incidental, several riots erupted in Bakel, Dakar and early towns in Senegal, directed against the chiefly Arabized Mauritanians who dominated the local retail commercial enterprise. The carouse, adding to already existing tensions, led to a campaign of terror against black Mauritanians, [ 36 ] who are often seen as ‘Senegalese ‘ by Bidha’an, careless of their nationality. As low scale conflict with Senegal continued into 1990/91, the mauritanian government engaged in or encourage acts of ferocity and seizures of property directed against the Halpularen heathen group. The tension culminated in an international airlift agreed to by Senegal and Mauritania under international coerce to prevent farther ferocity. The mauritanian Government expelled thousands of black Mauritanians. Most of these alleged ‘Senegalese ‘ had few or no ties with Senegal, and many have been repatriated from Senegal and Mali after 2007. [ 37 ] The claim total of expulsions is not known but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) estimates that, as of June 1991, 52,995 mauritanian refugees were living in Senegal and at least 13,000 in Mali. [ 38 ] : 27 confrontation parties were legalized and a new Constitution approved in 1991 which put an end to formal military rule. however, President Ould Taya ‘s election wins were dismissed as deceitful by some opposition groups. In the late 1980s, Ould Taya had established close co-operation with Iraq, and pursued a strongly arab nationalist line. Mauritania grew increasingly isolate internationally, and tensions with western countries grew dramatically after it took a pro-Iraqi situation during the 1991 Gulf War. During the mid-to former 1990s, Mauritania shifted its foreign policy to one of increased co-operation with the US and Europe. It was rewarded with diplomatic standardization and care projects. On 28 October 1999, Mauritania joined Egypt, Palestine, and Jordan as the only members of the Arab League to formally recognize Israel. Ould Taya besides started co-operating with the United States in anti-terrorism activities, a policy that was criticized by some human rights organizations. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] ( See besides Foreign relations of Mauritania. ) During the regimen of President Ould Taya Mauritania developed economically, oil was discovered in 2001 by the Woodside Company. [ 41 ]
August 2005 military coup d’etat [edit ]
On 3 August 2005, a military coup led by Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall ended President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya ‘s twenty-one years of dominion. Taking advantage of Ould Taya ‘s attendance at the funeral of Saudi King Fahd, the military, including members of the presidential guard duty, seized control of key points in the capital Nouakchott. The coup proceeded without loss of life. Calling themselves the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, the officers released the follow statement :
- “The national armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the oppressive activities of the defunct authority, which our people have suffered from during the past years.”[42]
The Military Council later issued another affirmation naming Colonel Mohamed Vall as president of the united states and director of the national patrol force, the Sûreté Nationale. Vall, once regarded as a firm ally of the now-ousted president, had aided Ould Taya in the coup that had in the first place brought him to power, and had later served as his security chief. Sixteen other officers were listed as members of the council. Though cautiously watched by the international community, the coup d’etat came to be generally accepted, with the military junta organizing elections within a predict biennial timeline. In a referendum on 26 June 2006, Mauritanians overwhelmingly ( 97 % ) approved a new constitution that limited the duration of a president ‘s stay in position. The leader of the junta, Col. Vall, promised to abide by the referendum and let go of power peacefully. Mauritania ‘s institution of relations with Israel – it is one of alone three Arab states to recognize Israel – was maintained by the new regimen, despite far-flung criticism from the enemy. They considered that military position as a bequest of the Taya regimen ‘s attempts to curry favor with the West. Parliamentary and municipal elections in Mauritania took place on 19 November and 3 December 2006 .
2007 presidential elections [edit ]
Mauritania ‘s first in full democratic presidential elections took place on 11 March 2007. The elections effected the final examination transplant from military to civilian rule following the military coup in 2005. This was the first time since Mauritania gained independence in 1960 that it elected a president in a multi-candidate election. [ 43 ] The elections were won in a second base round of vote by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, with Ahmed Ould Daddah a airless second gear .
2008 military coup [edit ]
On 6 August 2008, the point of the presidential guards took over the president ‘s palace in Nouakchott, a day after 48 lawmakers from the ruling party resigned in protest of President Abdallahi ‘s policies. [ which? ] The united states army surrounded key government facilities, including the express television build, after the president fired senior officers, one of them the question of the presidential guards. [ 44 ] The President, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef, and Mohamed Ould R’zeizim, Minister of Internal Affairs, were arrested. The coup d’etat was coordinated by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, early head of staff of the mauritanian Army and head of the presidential guard, who had recently been fired. Mauritania ‘s presidential spokesman, Abdoulaye Mamadouba, said the President, Prime Minister, and Interior Minister had been arrested by recreant Senior Mauritanian army officers and were being held under house check at the presidential palace in the capital. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] [ 47 ] In the obviously successful and ashen coup, Abdallahi ‘s daughter, Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi, said : “ The security agents of the BASEP ( Presidential Security Battalion ) came to our home and took away my don. ” [ 48 ] The coup d’etat plotters, all dismissed in a presidential decree shortly advance, included Abdel Aziz, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General ( Aqid ) Ahmad Ould Bakri. [ 49 ]
After the coup d’etat [edit ]
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in his hometown, Akjoujt, on 15 March 2009 A mauritanian lawgiver, Mohammed Al Mukhtar, claimed that many of the area ‘s people supported the coup d’etat of a government that had become “ an authoritarian government ” under a president of the united states who had “ marginalized the majority in parliament. ” [ 50 ] The coup was besides backed by Abdallahi ‘s rival in the 2007 election, Ahmed Ould Daddah. however, Abdel Aziz ‘s government was isolated internationally, and became subject to diplomatic sanctions and the cancellation of some aid projects. It found few extraneous supporters ( among them Morocco, Libya and Iran ), while Algeria, the United States, France and other european countries criticized the coup, and continued to refer to Abdallahi as the legitimate president of the united states of Mauritania. Domestically, a group of parties coalesced around Abdallahi to continue protesting the coup, which caused the military junta to ban demonstrations and crack down on confrontation activists. International and inner pressure finally forced the exhaust of Abdallahi, who was alternatively placed under firm halt in his home plate village. The new government broke off relations with Israel. In March 2010, Mauritania ‘s female foreign curate Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass announced that Mauritania had cut ties with Israel in a “ complete and authoritative means. ” [ 51 ] After the coup, Abdel Aziz insisted on holding fresh presidential elections to replace Abdallahi, but was forced to reschedule them due to internal and international opposition. During the spring of 2009, the military junta negotiated an reason with some opposition figures and international parties. As a result, Abdallahi formally resigned under protest, as it became net that some opposition forces had defected from him and most external players, notably including France and Algeria, now aligned with Abdel Aziz. The United States continued to criticize the coup, but did not actively oppose the elections .
Aziz era [edit ]
Abdallahi ‘s resignation allowed the election of Abdel Aziz as civilian president, on 18 July, by a 52 % majority. many of Abdallahi ‘s early supporters criticized this as a political gambit and refused to recognize the results. They argued that the election had been falsified due to junta control, and complained that the international community had let down the opposition. Despite complaints, the elections were about unanimously accepted by western, Arab and african countries, which lifted sanctions and resumed relations with Mauritania. By late summer, Abdel Aziz appeared to have secured his position and to have gained far-flung external and inner support. Some figures, such as Senate president Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, continued to refuse the newfangled ordering and call for Abdel Aziz ‘s resignation. In February 2011, the waves of the arabian spring dispersed to Mauritania, where thousands of people took to the streets of the capital. [ 52 ] In November 2014, Mauritania was invited as a non-member node nation to the G20 summit in Brisbane. In August 2019, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was sworn in as Mauritania ‘s tenth president since its independence from France in 1960. [ 53 ] His predecessor Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ran the country for 10 years. The ruling party Union for the Republic ( UPR ) was founded by Aziz in 2009. [ 54 ] In June 2021, early president Abdel Aziz was arrested amidst a corruptness probe into allegations of embezzlement [ 55 ], following a parliamentary question which was launched in the fall of 2019. [ 56 ]
geography [edit ]
topography of Mauritania Mauritania lies in the western region of the continent of Africa, and is generally flatcar, its 1,030,700 square kilometres forming huge, arid plains broken by casual ridges and clifflike outcroppings. [ 57 ] It borders the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara, Mali and Algeria. [ 57 ] It is considered part of both the Sahel and the Maghreb. approximately three-quarters of Mauritania is desert or semidesert. [ 58 ] As a result of extended, hard drought, the abandon has been expanding since the mid-1960s. A serial of escarpment face southwest, longitudinally bisecting these plains in the center of the nation. The escarpment besides separate a series of sandstone tableland, the highest of which is the Adrar Plateau, reaching an elevation of 500 metres or 1,600 feet. [ 59 ] Spring-fed oases lie at the foot of some of the escarpment. Isolated peaks, much ample in minerals, advance above the tableland ; the smaller peaks are called guelbs and the larger ones kedias. The concentric Guelb erbium Richat is a big have of the north-central region. Kediet ej Jill, near the city of Zouîrât, has an elevation of 915 metres ( 3,000 foot ) and is the highest bill. The tableland gradually descend toward the northeastern to the barren El Djouf, or “ empty quarter, ” a huge region of big sand dunes that merges into the Sahara Desert. To the west, between the ocean and the tableland, are alternating areas of argillaceous plains ( regs ) and sand dunes ( erg ), some of which shift from place to position, gradually moved by high winds. The dunes broadly increase in size and mobility toward the north. Belts of natural vegetation, corresponding to the rain convention, extend from east to west and scope from traces of tropical forest along the Sénégal River to brush and savanna in the southeast. only flaxen abandon is found in the centre and north of the area. Mauritania is home to seven tellurian ecoregions : Sahelian Acacia savanna, West Sudanian savanna, Saharan halophytics, Atlantic coastal desert, North Saharan steppe and woodlands, South Saharan steppe and woodlands, and West Saharan montane xeric woodlands. [ 60 ]
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The Richat Structure, dubbed the “ Eye of the Sahara ” [ citation needed ], is a formation of rock resembling concentric circles in the Adrar Plateau, near Ouadane, west–central Mauritania .
wildlife [edit ]
Government and politics [edit ]
The mauritanian Parliament is composed of a individual bedroom, the National Assembly. Composed of 157 members, representatives are elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. Until 2017, the parliament had an upper house, the Senate. The Senate had 56 members, 53 members elected for a six-year terminus by municipal councillors with one third renewed every two years and 3 members elected by Mauritanians afield. It was abolished in 2017, after a referendum. A president of the united states of Mauritania directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term ( eligible for a second term ). The last election was held on 22 June 2019, following scheduled for 22 June 2024. The premier minister appointed by the president. [ 61 ]
administrative divisions [edit ]
The government bureaucracy is composed of traditional ministries, limited agencies, and parastatal companies. The Ministry of Interior spearheads a system of regional governors and prefects modeled on the french system of local anesthetic presidency. Under this arrangement, Mauritania is divided into 15 regions ( wilaya or régions ). Control is tightly concentrated in the executive branch of the central government, but a serial of national and municipal elections since 1992 have produced restrict decentralization. These regions are subdivided into 44 departments ( moughataa ). The regions and capital district ( in alphabetic order ) and their capitals are :
economy [edit ]
A proportional representation of Mauritania exports, 2019 Despite being rich in natural resources, Mauritania has a low GDP. [ 62 ] A majority of the population still depends on farming and livestock for a support, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by perennial droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. [ 62 ] Mauritania has across-the-board deposits of cast-iron ore, which account for about 50 % of sum exports. gold and copper mine companies are opening mines in the inner. The nation ‘s first deepwater port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. In holocene years, drought and economic mismanagement have resulted in a buildup of alien debt. In March 1999, the government signed an agreement with a joint World Bank – International Monetary Fund mission on a $ 54 million enhance structural adjustment facility ( ESAF ). denationalization remains one of the key issues. Mauritania is unlikely to meet ESAF ‘s annual GDP growth objectives of 4–5 %. oil was discovered in Mauritania in 2001 in the offshore Chinguetti field. Although potentially significant for the mauritanian economy, its overall determine is difficult to predict. Mauritania has been described as a “ desperately poor desert nation, which straddles the Arab and African worlds and is Africa ‘s newest, if small-scale, oil manufacturer. ” [ 63 ] There may be extra vegetable oil reserves inland in the Taoudeni basin, although the harsh environment will make origin expensive. [ 64 ] The United Arab Emirates politics, via its fly k city Masdar, installed new solar plants to supply an extra 16.6 megawatt of electricity. The plants will world power about 39,000 homes and save 27,850 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. [ 65 ]
Demographics [edit ]
Population[4][5]
Year
Million
1950
0.7
2000
2.7
2018
4.4
As of 2018, Mauritania has a population of approximately 4.3 million. The local population is composed of three main ethnicities : Bidhan or white Moors, Haratin or black moors, and West Africans. 30 % Bidhan, 40 % Haratin, and 30 % others ( largely Black Sub-Saharans ). local statistics bureau estimations indicate that the Bidhan represent about 30 % of citizens. They speak Hassaniya Arabic and are chiefly of Arab-Berber beginning. The Haratin appoint approximately 34 % of the population. With many estimates putting them at around 40 %. They are descendants of the original inhabitants of the Tassili n’Ajjer and Acacus Mountain sites during the Epipalaeolithic earned run average. [ 66 ] [ 67 ] The remaining 30 % of the population largely consists of diverse ethnic groups of west african descent. Among these are the Niger-Congo -speaking Halpulaar ( Fulbe ), Soninke, Bambara and Wolof. [ 1 ]
religion [edit ]
Mauritania Religions[1]
Islam
99.9%
Christianity
0.1%
Camel grocery store in Nouakchott Mauritania is about 100 % Muslim, with most inhabitants adhering to the Sunni denomination. [ 1 ] The Sufi orders, the Tijaniyah and the Qadiriyyah, have great determine not only in the state, but in Morocco, Algeria, Senegal and other neighborhood countries vitamin a well. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nouakchott, founded in 1965, serves the 4,500 Catholics in Mauritania ( largely extraneous residents from West Africa and Europe ). [ citation needed ] There are extreme point restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in Mauritania ; it is one of thirteen countries in the global that punish atheism by death. [ 68 ] On 27 April 2018, The National Assembly passed a law that makes the death penalty compulsory for anyone convicted of “ blasphemous speech ” and acts deemed “ blasphemous ”. The new law eliminates the possibility under article 306 of substituting prison terms for the death punishment for sealed apostasy-related crimes if the wrongdoer promptly repents. The law besides provides for a prison term of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 600,000 Ouguiyas ( approximately EUR 14,630 ) for “ offending public indecency and Islamic values ” and for “ breaching Allah ’ s prohibitions ” or assisting in their gap. [ 69 ]
Languages [edit ]
Arabic is the official and national linguistic process of Mauritania. The local speak variety, known as Hassaniya, contains many Berber words and significantly differs from the Modern Standard Arabic that is used for official communication. Pulaar, Soninke and Wolof besides serve as national languages. [ 1 ] French is wide used in the media and among train classes. [ 70 ]
Health [edit ]
As of 2011, life anticipation at birth was 61.14 years. [ 1 ] Per caput outgo on health was 43 US $ ( PPP ) in 2004. [ 71 ] Public outgo was 2 % of the GDP in 2004 and individual 0.9 % of the GDP in 2004. [ 71 ] In the early twenty-first century, there were 11 physicians per 100,000 people. [ 71 ] Infant deathrate is 60.42 deaths/1,000 live births ( 2011 calculate ). [ 71 ] The fleshiness pace among mauritanian women is high gear, possibly in part due to the traditional standards of smasher in some regions by which corpulent women are considered beautiful while thin women are considered sallow. [ 72 ]
education [edit ]
Since 1999, all teach in the beginning year of basal school is in Modern Standard Arabic ; French is introduced in the second year, and is used to teach all scientific courses. [ 73 ] The practice of English is increasing. [ 74 ] Mauritania has the University of Nouakchott and early institutions of higher education, but the majority of highly educated Mauritanians have studied outside the area. populace outgo on education was at 10.1 % of 2000–2007 government outgo. [ 71 ]
Human rights [edit ]
The Abdallahi government was widely perceived as corrupt and restricted access to politics information. sexism, racism, female genital mutilation, child tug, human traffic, and the political marginalization of largely southern-based cultural groups continued to be problems. [ 75 ] Homosexuality is illegal and is a capital discourtesy in Mauritania. [ 76 ] Following the 2008 coup d’etat, the military politics of Mauritania faced austere international sanctions and inner agitation. Amnesty International accused it of practicing coordinated anguish against criminal and political detainees. [ 77 ] Amnesty has accused the Mauritanian legal system, both before and after the 2008 coup, of functioning with complete dismiss for legal procedure, fair trial, or humanist imprisonment. The organization has said that the mauritanian politics has practiced institutionalized and continuous consumption of anguish throughout its post-independence history, under all its leaders. [ 78 ] [ 79 ] [ 80 ] Amnesty International in 2008 alleged that torture was common in Mauritania, stating that its use is “ profoundly anchored in the culture of the security forces ”, which use it “ as a system of probe and repression ”. Forms of torment employed include cigarette burns, electric shocks and sexual ferocity, stated Amnesty International. [ 81 ] [ 82 ] In 2014, the United States Department of State identified torture by mauritanian law enforcement as one of the “ cardinal human rights problems ” in the nation. [ 83 ] Juan E. Méndez, an mugwump technical on human rights from the United Nations, reported in 2016 that legal protections against torture were present but not applied in Mauritania, pointing to an “ about entire absence of investigations into allegations of torture ”. [ 84 ] [ 85 ] According to the US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report, [ 86 ] abuses in Mauritania include :
… mistreatment of detainees and prisoners ; security system impel impunity ; drawn-out pretrial detention ; harsh prison conditions ; arbitrary arrests ; limits on freedom of the compress and assembly ; putrescence ; discrimination against women ; female genital mutilation ( FGM ) ; child marriage ; political marginalization of southern-based ethnic groups ; racial and ethnic discrimination ; bondage and slavery-related practices ; and child labor .
modern bondage [edit ]
slavery persists in Mauritania, despite it being outlawed. [ 87 ] It is the consequence of a historic caste system, resulting in descent-based slavery. [ 87 ] [ 88 ] Those enslaved are darker-skinned Haratin, with their owners being lighter-skinned Moors. [ 88 ] In 1905, the french colonial administration declared an end of bondage in Mauritania, with very short achiever. [ 89 ] Although nominally abolished in 1981, it was not illegal to own slaves until 2007. The US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report states, “ government efforts were not sufficient to enforce the antislavery law. No cases have been successfully prosecuted under the antislavery jurisprudence despite the fact that de facto slavery exists in Mauritania. ” [ 86 ] In 2012, it was estimated that 10 % to 20 % of the population of Mauritania ( between 340,000 and 680,000 people ) live in bondage. [ 90 ] In 2012, a government minister stated that slavery “ no longer exists ” in Mauritania. [ 91 ] however, according to the Walk Free Foundation ‘s Global Slavery Index, there were an estimated 90,000 enslave people in Mauritania in 2018 or around 2 % of the population. [ 92 ] Obstacles to ending slavery in Mauritania include :
- The difficulty of enforcing any laws in the country’s vast desert[90]
- Poverty that limits opportunities for slaves to support themselves if freed[90]
- Belief that slavery is part of the natural order of this society.[90]
acculturation [edit ]
Filming for respective documentaries and films has taken target in Mauritania, including Fort Saganne ( 1984 ), The Fifth Element ( 1997 ), Winged Migration ( 2001 ), and Timbuktu ( 2014 ). The T’heydinn is part of moorish oral custom. [ 93 ] The libraries of Chinguetti contain thousands of chivalric manuscripts. [ 94 ] [ 95 ] [ 96 ]
See besides [edit ]
Mauritania portal vein
References [edit ]
far interpretation [edit ]
- Foster, Noel (2010). Mauritania: The Struggle for Democracy. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 978-1935049302.
- Hudson, Peter (1991). Travels in Mauritania. Flamingo. ISBN 978-0006543589.
- Murphy, Joseph E (1998). Mauritania in Photographs. Crossgar Press. ISBN 978-1892277046.
- “Slavery’s last stronghold”. CNN. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014 .
- Pazzanita, Anthony G (2008). Historical Dictionary of Mauritania. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810855960.
- Ruf, Urs (2001). Ending Slavery: Hierarchy, Dependency and Gender in Central Mauritania. Transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3933127495.
- Sene, Sidi (2011). The Ignored Cries of Pain and Injustice from Mauritania. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1426971617.
Scholia has a country profile for Mauritania.
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