About Mauritania

he Islamic Republic of Mauritania is in North Africa and borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mali in the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest. Nouakchott is the capital and is located on the Atlantic coast.

In 2008, the government was overthrown in a military coup by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Aziz left the military to run for president in 2009, which he won. The next presidential election will be held in 2019. President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz is constitutionally barred from running again.

According to world population review Mauritania has a population estimate of 4,623,187 (2018).

History

The first Saharan people to abandon the nomadic lifestyle were the Bafours. After the Sahara’s desertification, they moved south. Central Saharans followed soon after.

Moorish Islamic warriors conquered the Ghana Empire in 1076. The Arabs dominated the local population and Mauritania over the next 500 years. From 1644-1674, the Mauritanian Thirty Year War was a final and unsuccessful attempt to repel the Arab invaders. The descendants of these warriors became the high level of Moorish society.