A glance at Mauritania reveals a nation shaped by its vast desert expanses, a tapestry of cultural currents, and a political system marked by both continuity and change. Since independence from France in 1960, Mauritania has navigated military coups, returned to civilian rule, and in June 2024 achieved its most recent presidential election, reaffirming President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani’s leadership. Ethnic dynamics between Arab-Berbers (Beydane and Haratin) and sub-Saharan groups (Fulani, Soninke, Bambara) add layers of social complexity. Meanwhile, the relentless Sahelian drought and advancing sands continue to redefine livelihoods and settlement patterns across its 1,030,700 km², from the shimmering Atlantic coast to the stark “Empty Quarter” of the Sahara.
Political Overview
Mauritania is a semi-presidential Islamic republic in which the president directly elected for a five-year term, renewable once serves as both head of state and government and appoints the prime minister. Since independence in November 1960, the country endured prolonged one-party rule under Moktar Ould Daddah, followed by cycles of military coups and brief democratic interludes; the first fully civilian transfer occurred in March 2007, though another coup in 2008 interrupted the process. In 2017, a constitutional referendum abolished the Senate, consolidating power in a unicameral National Assembly of 176 members elected for five years. Today’s political landscape remains highly presidential, with formal and informal institutions concentrating authority in the executive and periodic tensions over ethnic representation particularly between white Moors (Beydane), black Moors (Haratine), and non-Moors shaping debates on national unity and social justice.
Cultural Heritage and Identity
Mauritania’s identity springs from a mosaic of ethnicities and centuries-old traditions. The population includes Arab-Berbers (Beydane), Haratine (black Moors), and black African groups such as the Fulani, Soninke, and Bambara. Griots hereditary oral historians preserve the T’heydinn epic, a UNESCO-inscribed (2011) Moorish literary and musical tradition dating to the 17th century that extols valor, justice, and communal bonds through poetry and song. In desert “universities” known as Mahadra, students absorb Quranic and cultural knowledge by rote under tents, a living testament to the transmission of heritage in nomadic contexts. Despite modern pressures, festivals, music, and oral arts continue to reinforce a sense of belonging, even as activists like Biram Dah Abeid champion human rights and challenge lingering social hierarchies rooted in historical slavery.
Geographical Landscape and Climate
Covering over 1 million km², Mauritania is the largest country entirely below 1,000 m elevation, characterized by flat, arid plains interrupted by sandstone plateaus and isolated ridges, notably the Adrar Plateau (500 m) and Kediet ej Jill (915 m) near Zouîrât. It straddles the Atlantic coast, the Sahel’s southern fringe, and the Sahara’s northern expanse, where erg (mobile dunes) and regs (stony plains) advance as desertification intensifies a process sped by drought since the 1960s and exacerbated by overgrazing and deforestation. Rainfall is scarce and erratic: annual precipitation dips below 100 mm in the north and rises to 500–600 mm in the far south during the brief July–September rainy season (“hivernage”). The harmattan a hot, dust-laden wind dominates the long dry season, shaping both the physical environment and the rhythms of human activity across four ecological zones: Saharan, Sahelian, Senegal River Valley, and Coastal.
