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Mauritania, [a] formally the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, [b] 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 .
The Beidane, who are of mixed Arab and Berber ancestry, represent 30% of Mauritania's population. [1] [2] The language of the Beidane is Hassaniya Arabic. Al-Bidān (which literally translates to "Land of the whites") is an endonym used within Mauritania and Western Sahara by the Bidān people to refer to themselves. The name used by outsiders ...
Pages in category "Culture of Mauritania" The following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. K. Kiffa beads;
Predominantly Muslims, the Soninke were one of the early ethnic groups from West Africa to convert to Islam in about the 10th century. [8] The contemporary population of Soninke people is estimated to be over 2 million. [9] The cultural practices of Soninke people are similar to the Mandé peoples, and those of the Imraguen of Mauritania.
Berbers occupied what is now Mauritania by the beginning of the third century AD. Groups of Arab tribes migrated to this area in the late seventh century, bringing with them 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 ...
They have traditionally been characterized as the descendants of former sub-Saharan African slaves. [5] [6] They form the single largest defined ethnolinguistic group in Mauritania where they account for 40% of the population (~1.5 million). [7] In parts of Arab-Berber Maghreb, they are sometimes referred to as a "socially distinct class of ...
The Tichitt tradition, [1] [2] or Tichitt culture, [3] [4] was created by proto-Mande peoples, [5] namely the ancestors of the Soninke people. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] In 4000 BCE, the start of sophisticated social structure (e.g., trade of cattle as valued assets) developed among herders amid the Pastoral Period of the Sahara. [ 8 ]
The people of Western Sahara speak the Ḥassānīya dialect of Arabic, also spoken in northern Mauritania, and Spanish. They are of mixed Arab, African (including Berber descent), many consider themselves to be Arab .