The country of the Moors
Officially, the Moors represent 75 to 80 percent of the Mauritanian population. They are at the root of the construction of the Mauritanian state, having taken the reins of the country since its independence in 1960. There are two groups of Mauritanian Arabs: the Beidanes, known as white Moors, and the Haratines, known as black Moors. The former make up 30 to 35% of the population, and the latter 40 to 45%. The Beidanes come from successive waves of migrations of Banu Hassan tribes from Morocco, mixed with pre-existing Berber peoples, while the Haratines are a community of freed slaves of African-Mauritanian origin. The latter are believed to be of Bafour origin, an ancient community of farmers and pastoralists residing in Mauritania and the Western Sahara.
Originally nomads, the Moors were forced to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle due to successive droughts and the attraction of cities. Nomads now represent less than 2% of the total Mauritanian population.
The question of the Haratines
Abolished in 1981 and recognized in the constitution as a crime against humanity in 2012, slavery no longer officially exists in Mauritania. However, it still affects at least 1 to 2 percent of the Haratin population, or about 90,000 people, according to the Global Slavery Index. In Arabic, haratine means "to attain freedom," and in Hassania means "freed.
Haratines are Arab-Berber by culture, African-Mauritanian by ethnicity. The fact that the Haratines are counted among the Mauritanian Arabs is a continuation of slavery: in fact, they represent a major political issue, insofar as their integration into the Arab community makes the latter the majority, and allows the Moors to govern the country. Moorish slavery was characterized by several factors: traditional (domestic chores, work in the fields), administrative (Haratins worked much more than Beidanes in the public administration, but rarely rose in the hierarchy), political, etc. The official abolition of slavery has given way to a new form of servitude: it has been observed that Haratines, having been freed by their masters, deprive themselves of part of their crops and property in favor of their former masters. This would be a kind of eternal royalty, a contribution in exchange for an act of alleged generosity... In religious texts, however, it is written that the master and his slave, once freed, become equal.
A diversity of Mauritanian Africans
The Africans present in Mauritania can be divided into several ethnic groups, starting with the Wolofs. The Wolofs, Senegal's main ethnic group, number an estimated 450,000 in Mauritania. They live along the Senegal River, near Rosso. Wolofs represent 9% of the Mauritanian population, making them the majority ethnic group. They are followed by the Toucouleurs, with a share of around 8%. Mainly settled in Senegal, Mali and Mauritania, this ethnic group has been converted to Islam since the 11th century! Based around Bogué and Kaédi, the Toucouleurs are cereal farmers (millet, sorghum), livestock breeders and fishermen. Next come the Soninkés, around the town of Sélibabi. They are descendants of the Empire of Ghana, which straddled the present-day borders of Mali and Mauritania from the 3rd to the 13th century. Soninkés make up 4% of the Mauritanian population and are farmers. Mauritania is also home to 4% Peul (or Pulaar), a traditionally nomadic and pastoral ethnic group, who today grow millet and raise cattle. Finally, the Bambaras, 1% of the population, are found in the east of the country, close to their native Mali, and are mostly farmers and craftsmen.
Note: in 2011, when Mauritania launched a census campaign, the "Touche pas à ma nationalité" movement was particularly virulent in Nouakchott and the south of the country, even leading to clashes. Mauritanian Africans revolted against the government, which was accused of seeking to marginalize them through "black-only" questions, predominantly white Moorish interviewers, impossible to provide supporting documents... Mauritanian Africans feared that their nationality would be called into question, a phenomenon that had already occurred between 1989 and 1991. Thousands of them had had to take refuge in neighboring Senegal or Mali, fleeing an outbreak of inter-ethnic violence.
The Imraguens, sailors of the desert
An ethnic minority, the Imraguens are established on the Mauritanian coast, around Cape Timirit. Originally Bafours, then mixed with Berbers and slaves of the Moors, they live essentially from fishing mullet on the Banc d'Arguin. Today they are sedentary, but in the past they were nomadic, moving around with their fishing nets after the fish, from March to May and from October to December. Before the 1930s, the Imraguens were defined by their original fishing technique: they whistled at humpback dolphins so that they would approach the shore, dragging schools of mullets in their wake... and into the Imraguens' fishing nets. Nowadays, they use lanches (flat-bottomed boats with a lateen sail), and diversify their activity by raising dromedaries. As industrial overfishing directly threatens the Imraguens, the Banc d'Arguin has fortunately been declared a National Park, thus preserving part of their situation. Part of their catch is consumed locally, and most is shipped to Nouadhibou and Nouakchott. Mullet roe is the main component of dried and salted bottarga, a rare and luxurious specialty.
Refugees and foreign residents
In 2025, some 170,000 refugees and asylum seekers were registered in Mauritania, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR). These figures are growing every year, due in particular to the security situation in neighboring Mali.
At the same time, there are many foreign residents in Mauritania: France and Spain are present in the country for cooperation purposes, but also and above all there are Chinese and Turkish fishermen, particularly in Nouadhibou.
