The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, La

Mauritania ⁱ/mɔrɪˈteɪniə/ (Arabic: موريتانيا‎ Mūrītānyā; Berber: Muritanya / Agawej; Wolof: Gànnaar; Soninke: Murutaane; Pulaar: Moritani; French: Mauritanie), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country inWest Africa and in the Maghreb. HP Pavilion DV9749EF Battery It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara (controlled byMorocco) in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest. It is named after the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, which later became a province of the Roman Empire, even though the modern Mauritania covers a territory far to the south of the old Berber kingdom that had no relation with it. HP Pavilion DV9750ED Battery The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast. The government of Mauritania was overthrown on 6 August 2008, in a military coup d'état led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, General Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, which he won. HP Pavilion DV9750EF Battery In Mauritania about 20% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day.^[6] Slavery in Mauritania has been called a major human rights issue ^[7] as well as female genital mutilation/cutting,child labour, and human trafficking.

Ancient history

The Bafours were primarily agriculturalist, and among the first Saharan people to abandon their historically nomadic lifestyle. HP Pavilion DV9750EG Battery With the gradual desiccation of the Sahara, they headed south. Successive waves of migration to West Africa included not only Central Saharans, but in 1076, Moorish Islamic warrior monks (Almoravid or Al Murabitun) who attacked and conquered the ancient Ghana Empire. HP Pavilion DV9750EJ Battery Over the next 500 years, Arabs overcame fierce resistance from the local population (Berber and non-Berber alike) to dominate Mauritania. The Mauritanian Thirty-Year War (1644–74) was the unsuccessful final effort to repel the Yemeni MaqilArab invaders led by the Beni Hassan tribe. HP Pavilion DV9750EL Battery The descendants of the Beni Hassan warriors became the upper stratum of Moorish society. Berbers retained influence by producing the majority of the region's Marabouts—those who preserve and teach Islamic tradition. Many of the Berber tribes claimed Yemeni (and sometimes other Arab) origin; HP Pavilion DV9750EO Battery there is little evidence to support such claims, though some studies do make a connection between the two.^[8] Hassaniya, a Berber-influenced Arabic dialect that derives its name from the Beni Hassan, became the dominant language among the largely nomadic population. HP Pavilion DV9750EP Battery

Modern history

Imperial France gradually absorbed the territories of present-day Mauritania from the Senegal river area and upwards, starting in the late 19th century. In 1901, Xavier Coppolani took charge of the imperial mission. HP Pavilion DV9750ER Battery Through a combination of strategic alliances with Zawiya tribes, and military pressure on the Hassane warrior nomads, he managed to extend French rule over the Mauritanian emirates. Trarza, Brakna and Tagant quickly submitted to treaties with the colonial power (1903–04), HP Pavilion DV9750EV Battery but the northern emirate of Adrar held out longer, aided by the anticolonial rebellion (or jihad) of shaykh Maa al-Aynayn. It was finally defeated militarily in 1912, and incorporated into the territory of Mauritania, which had been drawn up in 1904. Mauritania would subsequently form part of French West Africa, from 1920. HP Pavilion DV9750US Battery French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery, and an end to interclan warfare. During the colonial period 90% of the population remained nomadic, but many sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to trickle back into Mauritania. HP Pavilion DV9751EF Battery As the country gained independence in 1960, the capital cityNouakchott was founded at the site of a small colonial village, the Ksar. With independence, larger numbers of indigenous Sub-Saharan African peoples (Haalpulaar, Soninke, and Wolof) entered Mauritania, moving into the area north of the Senegal River. HP Pavilion DV9751EO Battery Educated in French language and customs, many of these recent arrivals became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state. This occurred as France militarily suppressed the most intransigent Hassane tribes of the Moorish north, shifting old balances of power, and creating new cause for conflict between the southern populations and Moors. HP Pavilion DV9752EO Battery Between these groups stood the Haratin, a very large population of Arabized slaves of sub-Saharan African origins, who lived within Moorish society, integrated into a low-caste social position.^[9] Modern-day slavery is still a common practice in Mauritania.^[10] According to some estimates, up to 600,000 Mauritanians, or 20% of the population, are still enslaved. HP Pavilion DV9753EO Battery A 2012 CNN report, "Slavery's Last Stronghold," by John D. Sutter, describes and documents the ongoing slave-owning cultures, including a compelling story about a former slave owner who is now an active abolitionist.^[13] This social discrimination concerns mainly the "black Moors" (Haratin) in the northern part of the country, HP Pavilion DV9755ED Battery where tribal elites among “white Moors” (Beidane) hold sway, but low-caste groups within the sub-Saharan African ethnic groups of the south are affected by similar practices. The great Sahel droughts of the early 1970s caused massive devastation in Mauritania. HP Pavilion DV9757EO Battery Moors reacted to changing circumstances, and to Arab nationalist calls from abroad, by increasing pressure to Arabize many aspects of Mauritanian life, such as law and language. A schism developed between those Moors who consider Mauritania to be an Arab country and those who seek a dominant role for the non-Moorish peoples, HP Pavilion DV9757EZ Battery with various models for maintaining the country's cultural diversity being suggested, but none successfully implemented. This ethnic discord was evident during intercommunal violence that broke out in April 1989 (the “1989 Events” and “Mauritania–Senegal Border War”), but which has since subsided. HP Pavilion DV9758CA Battery Some 70,000 sub-Saharan African Mauritanians were expelled from Mauritania in the late 1980s.^[14] Ethnic tension and the sensitive issue of slavery – past and, in some areas, present – are still powerful themes in the country's political debate; a significant number from all groups, however, seek a more diverse, pluralistic society. HP Pavilion DV9760ED Battery The government bureaucracy is composed of traditional ministries, special agencies, and parastatal companies. The Ministry of Interior spearheads a system of regional governors and prefects modeled on the French system of local administration. Under this system, Mauritania is divided into thirteen regions (wilaya), including the capital district, Nouakchott. HP Pavilion DV9760EF Battery Control is tightly concentrated in the executive branch of the central government, but a series of national and municipal elections since 1992 have produced limited decentralization. Mauritania, along with Morocco, annexed the territory of Western Sahara in 1976, with Mauritania taking the lower one-third at the request of former imperial power Spain. HP Pavilion DV9760EI Battery After several military losses to the Polisario – heavily armed and supported by Algeria, the local hegemon and rival to Morocco – Mauritania withdrew in 1979, and its claims were taken over by Morocco. Due to economic weakness, Mauritania has been a negligible player in the territorial dispute, with its official position being that it wishes for an expedient solution that is mutually agreeable to all parties. HP Pavilion DV9760EL Battery While most of Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco, the UN still considers the Western Sahara a territory that needs to express its wishes with respect to statehood. A referendum is still supposed to be held sometime in the future, under UN auspices, to determine whether or not the indigenous Sahrawis wish to be independent as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, or to be part of Morocco. HP Pavilion DV9760EO Battery The Moroccan government has thus far blocked such a referendum.

Ould Daddah era (1960–78)

Mauritania left the Franco-African Community to become an independent nation in November 1960.^[15] HP Pavilion DV9760EZ Battery In 1964 President Moktar Ould Daddah, originally installed by the French, formalized Mauritania as a one-party state with a new constitution, setting up an authoritarian presidential regime. Daddah's own Parti du Peuple Mauritanien (PPM) became the ruling organization in a single-party system. HP Pavilion DV9762EO Battery The President justified this decision on the grounds that he considered Mauritania unready for western-style multi-party democracy. Under this one-party constitution, Daddah was reelected in uncontested elections in 1966, 1971 and 1976. HP Pavilion DV9762EZ Battery He was ousted in a bloodless coup on 10 July 1978, after bringing the country to near-collapse through a disastrous war to annex the southern part of Western Sahara, framed as an attempt to create a “Greater Mauritania”. HP Pavilion DV9764EG Battery

CMRN and CMSN military governments (1978–84)

Col. Mustafa Ould Salek's CMRN junta proved incapable of either establishing a strong base of power or extracting the country from its destabilizing conflict with the Sahrawi resistance movement, the Polisario Front. It quickly fell, to be replaced by another military government, the CMSN. HP Pavilion DV9765EG Battery The energetic Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah soon emerged as its strongman, and by giving up all claims to Western Sahara, he found peace with the Polisario and improved relations with its main backer, Algeria – but relations with the other party to the conflict, Morocco, and its European ally France, deteriorated. HP Pavilion DV9766EZ Battery Instability continued, and Haidallah's ambitious reform attempts foundered. His regime was plagued by attempted coups and intrigue within the military establishment, and became increasingly contested due to his harsh and uncompromising measures against opponents; many dissidents were jailed, and some executed. HP Pavilion DV9767EG Battery In 1981 slavery was legally abolished, making Mauritania the last country in the world to abolish slavery.

Ould Taya’s rule (1984–2005)

In 1980 Haidallah was deposed by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, who, while retaining tight military control, relaxed the political climate somewhat. HP Pavilion DV9767EO Battery Ould Taya moderated Mauritania's previous pro-Algerian stance, and re-established ties with Morocco during the late 1980s, ties which deepened during the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of Mauritania's drive to attract support from Western states and Western-aligned Arab states. HP Pavilion DV9769EG Battery Mauritania has not rescinded its recognition of Polisario's Western Saharan exile government, and remains on good terms with Algeria. Its position on the Western Sahara conflict is, since the 1980s, one of strict neutrality. The Parti Républicain Démocratique et Social (PRDS), formerly led by President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, HP Pavilion DV9770EA Battery dominated Mauritanian politics after the country's first multi-party elections in April 1992, following the approval by referendum of the current constitution in July 1991. President Taya won elections in 1992 and 1997. Political parties, illegal during the military period, were legalized again in 1991. HP Pavilion DV9770ED Battery By April 1992, as civilian rule returned, 16 major political parties had been recognized; 12 major political parties were active in 2004. Most opposition parties boycotted the first legislative election in 1992, and for nearly a decade the parliament was dominated by the PRDS. HP Pavilion DV9770EF Battery The opposition participated in municipal elections in January–February 1994, and in subsequent Senateelections – most recently in April 2004 – and gained representation at the local level, as well as three seats in the Senate.、 Background Mauritania’s population is composed of several ethnics groups: HP Pavilion DV9770EG Battery the Moors (thought to be from Ancient Greek mauros, "dark") or Beidane, the Haratines, who are black-skinned descendants of freed slaves still attached to their former masters’ culture, and the Wolof, the Soninke, and the Halpulaar or Fulas (French:Peuls; Fula: Fulɓe), including settled farmers called Toucouleur and nomadic stock-breeders. HP Pavilion DV9770EL Battery Mauritanian society has been characterized by consistent discrimination against its black population, which is seen as contesting the political, economic and social dominance of the Moors.^[16] Mauritanian blacks face discrimination in employment in the civil service, the administration of justice before the regular and religious courts, HP Pavilion DV9770EO Battery access to loans and credits from banks and state owned enterprise, and opportunity for education and vocational training . Between 1990 and 1991 a campaign of particularly extreme violence took place, against a background of Arabisation, HP Pavilion DV9770ES Battery interference with blacks’ association rights, expropriation, expatriation, and slavery, slaves being mostly black.^[18] In April 1986, the Manifesto of the Oppressed Black Mauritanian (Manifeste du négro-mauritanien opprimé), which documented discrimination against Mauritania's black populations in every sector of public life, HP Pavilion DV9770EV Battery was published by the African Liberation Forces of Mauritania (FLAM; Force pour la Liberation Africaine de Mauritanie). In response, in September 1986, 30 to 40 black intellectuals suspected of involvement in the publication of the Manifesto were arrested and subjected to brutal interrogations. HP Pavilion DV9770EW Battery They were not allowed visitors until November 1987. In the meantime, the authorities cracked down on black communities, often using mass arrests as a form of intimidation.^[19] In October 1987, the government allegedly uncovered a tentative coup d’Etat by a group of black army officers, backed, according to the authorities, by Senegal. HP Pavilion DV9770LA Battery Fifty one officers were arrested and subjected to interrogation and torture.^[21]The torture consisted of “beatings, burns, electric shocks applied to the genitals, stripping prisoners naked and pouring cold water over them, burying prisoners in sand to their necks, and subjecting prisoners to jaguar, HP Pavilion DV9772EG Battery which consists of tying a victim’s hands and feet, suspending him upside down from a bar, and beating him particularly on the soles of the feet”.^[22]They were accused of “endangering the security of the State by participating in a conspiracy to overthrow the government and to provoke killing and devastation among the inhabitants of the country” and tried following a special summary procedure. HP Pavilion DV9773EG Battery Three of the officers arrested in October were sentenced to death; eighteen were sentenced to life imprisonment (including two who died in detention in 1988); nine were sentenced to 20 years; five were sentenced to 10 years; three were given 5 years; six were given 5-year suspended sentences with heavy fines; and seven were acquitted. None of those convicted were permitted to appeal. HP Pavilion DV9774CA Battery Heightened ethnic tensions were the catalyst for the Mauritania–Senegal Border War, which started as a result of a conflict in Diawara between Moorish Mauritanian herders and Senegalese farmers over grazing rights.^[23] On 9 April 1989, Mauritanian guards killed two Senegalese.^[24]  HP Pavilion DV9775EE Battery Following the incident, several riots erupted in Bakel, Dakar and other towns in Senegal, directed against the mainly Moorish Mauritanians who dominated the local retail business. The rioting, added to already existing tensions, led to a campaign of terror against black Mauritanians, HP Pavilion DV9775EG Battery who are often seen as 'Senegalese' by Beidanes, regardless of their actual nationality. As conflict with Senegal continued into 1990/91, the Mauritanian government engaged in or encouraged acts of violence and seizures of property directed against blacks. HP Pavilion DV9775LA Battery The war culminated in an international airlift agreed to by Senegal and Mauritania under international pressure to prevent further violence. The Mauritanian Government expelled tens of thousands of black Mauritanians, including intellectuals, civil servants, professionals, HP Pavilion DV9778EG Battery businessmen, militant trade unionists, those suspected of opposition, and farmers and cattle-herders from the Sénégal River Valley. Most of these so-called 'Senegalese' had no ties to Senegal, and many still reside in refugee camps in Mali and Senegal.^[26]

Expulsion^[27]

The main reason for expulsions and expropriation was economic. HP Pavilion DV9778EO Battery The traditionally nomadic Moors had lost their main source of revenue with the drought of 1968–1985, which devastated their camel, goat, and cattle herds, and had lost their retail businesses during the anti-Mauritanian riots in Senegal. Moreover, the Mauritanian part of the Senegalese river valley is the most fertile part of the country, HP Pavilion DV9779EO Battery and the creation of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal river ( OMVS, on 11 March 1972 by Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, enhanced the potential value of the valley, with the construction of dams which greatly increased the amount of irrigable land. HP Pavilion DV9780EA Battery In villages of the South, blacks were indiscriminately expelled by security forces, who forced them to cross the Senegalese River to Senegal, taking their identity card and their belongings. Those who resisted or who tried to flee with their belongings were arrested, imprisoned and sometimes executed.^[19] HP Pavilion DV9780EB Battery In the larger towns and cities, the authorities targeted black civil servants, employees of private institutions, trade unionists, former political prisoners and, in some instances, the wives of political prisoners. HP Pavilion DV9780ED Battery Fulas were the main group targeted. According to a study ^[28] conducted by Christian Santoir for a French research company (ORSTOM, which became the Institute for research on Development in 1998) some 21,500 Fulas were expelled, which accounted for at least 57% of the Fulas in Mauritania. HP Pavilion DV9780EG Battery Expulsions were accompanied by arbitrary arrest,^[19] rape, confiscation of belongings, and seizure of identity papers. Fulas'liberty of movement was restricted, as they were subjected to harassment at checkpoints, being obliged to show their identity papers, and sometimes detained. HP Pavilion DV9780EO Battery The exact number of expulsions is not known but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that, as of June 1991, there were 52,995 Mauritanian refugees in Senegal; in June 1993, 52,945 were registered. A smaller number of refugees have also fled into Mali; HP Pavilion DV9780EP Battery the official figure for those who have been registered there is about 13,000, but again, the real number is undoubtedly much higher because of the ease of integration into the life of local communities in Mali.^[29]

Expropriation

Ordinance 83.127, enacted June 5, 1983, HP Pavilion DV9780ES Battery started the process of nationalization of all land not clearly the property of a documented owner, thus abolishing the traditional system of land tenure. Potential nationalization was based on the concept of "dead land",^[30] i.e., property which has not been developed or on which obvious development cannot be seen. HP Pavilion DV9780ET Battery A practical effect was government seizure of traditional grazing lands. The ordinance forbade any collective lawsuit regarding property rights, which rendered impossible any legal action based on traditional rights of tenure, as the traditional system of tenure was based on community rights, and could therefore only be adjudicated collectively. HP Pavilion DV9780EW Battery Several methods were used for expropriation, the most common being simple confiscation. Moors exploited Article 9 of the Ordinance, which provides that registered property rights take precedence, by registering their rights using their relations, in order to prevent blacks from claiming it. HP Pavilion DV9780EZ Battery Moors also established fake cooperatives by which they could become members of formerly-owned black cooperatives (which was the only means for blacks to register property), in effect gaining ownership of the whole property of the cooperative.^[31]

Massacre of 1990–1991

From November 1990 to February 1991, HP Pavilion DV9780LA Battery between 500 and 600 Fulas and Soninke political prisoners were executed or tortured to death by government forces. They were among 3,000 to 5,000 blacks – predominantly soldiers and civil servants – arrested between October 1990 and mid-January 1991,^[32] on the basis of alleged involvement in an attempt to overthrow the government. HP Pavilion DV9784EG Battery The severity of the torture, combined with the complete lack of medical care, caused a high death toll; the estimate of 500–600 deaths from torture or summary execution is widely accepted. In addition, an unknown number of blacks found death by extrajudicial execution by security forces.^[34] HP Pavilion DV9785EG Battery A military investigation was put in place by the government and the results were never made public; however, several officials were reportedly involved, including Colonel Sid'Ahmed Ould Boilil, Colonel Cheikh Ould Mohamed Salah, Major Mohamed Cheikh Ould El Hadi, and Major Ely Fall .^[35] HP Pavilion DV9785LA Battery In order to guarantee immunity for those responsible and to block any attempts at accountability for past abuses, an amnesty^[36] was declared by the Parliament in June 1993 covering all crimes committed by the armed forces, security forces as well as civilians, between April 1989 and April 1992. HP Pavilion DV9787EG Battery The government offered compensation to families of victims, which a few accepted in lieu of settlement.^[33] Despite this amnesty, some Mauritanians have denounced the involvement of the government in the arrests and killings. HP Pavilion DV9788EG Battery In 1991 an open letter was sent toPresident Taya by 50 prominent Mauritanians, including former ministers, lawyers, doctors, and professors, denouncing "the magnitude of the repression that was brought down upon the blacks, civilian and military, in the last months of 1990”. HP Pavilion DV9790EA Battery It listed several hundred extrajudicial executions, atrocities, and disappearances. The Mauritanian Workers Union also called for an independent inquiry into the detentions.^[37] Women played a role in denouncing the atrocities: in April 1991, more than 75 women – wives, HP Pavilion DV9790EB Battery sisters, nieces, and mothers of some of those presumed to have been killed in the detentions – signed a petition addressed to President Taya, calling on the government to break its silence on the issue and provide for families devastated by the killings.^[37] HP Pavilion DV9790ED Battery

Discrimination via Arabization

For many years, and particularly since 1986, Arabization has been used as a way to discriminate against Black Mauritanians.^[38] Indeed, "[Arabization] is the key to the dispossession of blacks in terms of political power, economic opportunities, and employment possibilities.” HP Pavilion DV9790EF Battery Arabization has been put into practice via a policy of interference with blacks’ right of association, particularly by outlawing private and public gatherings. Although the law does not explicitly prohibit assembly of black people, the system of authorization created by the Government applies only to blacks, resulting in de facto prohibition.^[40] HP Pavilion DV9790EG Battery Since January 1966, it has been compulsory for students in secondary school to study entirely in Arabic. This provoked strikes among students, who were supported by civil servants and others. These strikes lead to the issuance of the Manifesto of Nineteen, which listed grievances against the Moors’ domination.^[41] HP Pavilion DV9790EL Battery The process of making Arabic the primary language of the country was formalized in a new constitution. Passed by referendum in July 1991, it declared Arabic the country's official language, with no reference to French. HP Pavilion DV9790EO Battery Mauritanian international relations under Ould Taya's rule In the late 1980s, Ould Taya had established close co-operation with Iraq, and pursued a strongly Arab Nationalist line. In 1989, bloody clashes erupted with Senegal, during which both countries expelled ethnic minorities to the other country. HP Pavilion DV9790EP Battery Mauritania grew increasingly isolated internationally, and tensions with Western countries grew dramatically after it took a pro-Iraqi position during the 1991 Gulf War. During the mid-to late 1990s, Mauritania shifted its foreign policy to one of increased co-operation with the US and Europe, and was rewarded with diplomatic normalization and aid projects. HP Pavilion DV9790ER Battery On 28 October 1999, Mauritanian Foreign Minister Ahmed Sid’Ahmed and his Israeli counterpart David Levy signed an agreement in Washington DC, USA, establishing full diplomatic relations between the two countries. The signing ceremony was held at the U.S. State Department in the presence of US Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright. HP Pavilion DV9790ES Battery Mauritania thereby joined Egypt, Palestine, and Jordan as the only members of the Arab League to officially recognize Israel. Ould Taya also started co-operating with the United States in anti-terrorism activities, a policy which was criticized by some human rights organizations, HP Pavilion DV9790ET Battery which claimed that Mauritania's problem with terrorism was being misrepresented for geopolitical purposes.^[42][43] (See also Foreign relations of Mauritania.) A group of current and former Army officers launched a bloody, unsuccessful coup attempt on 8 June 2003. HP Pavilion DV9790EW Battery The leaders of the attempted coup were never caught. Mauritania's presidential election, its third since adopting the democratic process in 1992, took place on 7 November 2003. Six candidates, including Mauritania's first female and first Haratine (former slavefamily) candidates, represented a wide variety of political goals and backgrounds. HP Pavilion DV9791EO Battery Incumbent President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya won reelection with 67.02% of the popular vote, according to the official figures, with Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallafinishing second.

August 2005 military coup

On 3 August 2005, a military coup led by Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall ended Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's twenty-one years of rule. HP Pavilion DV9800 Battery Taking advantage of Taya's attendance at the funeral of Saudi King Fahd, the military, including members of the presidential guard, seized control of key points in the capital of Nouakchott. The coup proceeded without loss of life, and the officers, calling themselves the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, released the following statement: HP Pavilion DV9800EB Battery "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."^[44] HP Pavilion DV9800ES Battery The Military Council later issued another statement naming Colonel Vall as president and director of the national police force, the Sûreté Nationale. Vall, once regarded as a firm ally of the now-ousted president, had aided Taya in the coup which had originally brought him to power, and had later served as his security chief. HP Pavilion DV9801TX Battery Sixteen other officers were listed as members of the Council. Though cautiously watched by the international community, the coup came to be generally accepted, with the military junta organizing elections within a promised two-year timeline. In a referendum on 26 June 2006, HP Pavilion DV9802TX Battery Mauritanians overwhelmingly (97%) approved a new constitution which limited the duration of a president's stay in office. The leader of the junta, Col. Vall, promised to abide by the referendum and relinquish power peacefully. HP Pavilion DV9803TX Battery Mauritania's establishment of relations with Israel – it is one of only three Arab states to recognize Israel – was maintained by the new regime, despite widespread criticism from the opposition, who viewed it as a legacy of the Taya regime's attempts to curry favor with the West. HP Pavilion DV9804CA Battery Parliamentary and municipal elections in Mauritania took place on 19 November and 3 December 2006.

2007 presidential election

Mauritania's first fully democratic presidential election took place on 11 March 2007. The election effected the final transfer from military to civilian rule following the military coup in 2005. HP Pavilion DV9804TX Battery This was the first time that the president had been selected in a multi-candidate election in the country's post-independence history.^[45] The election was won in a second round of voting by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, with Ahmed Ould Daddah a close second. HP Pavilion DV9805EF Battery

2008 military coup

The head of the Presidential Guards took over the president's palace in Nouakchott on 6 August 2008, a day after 48 lawmakers from the ruling party resigned in protest of President Abdallahi's policies. HP Pavilion DV9805EG Battery The army surrounded key government facilities, including the state television building, after the president fired senior officers, one of them the head of the presidential guards.^[46] The President, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef, and Minister of Internal Affairs Mohamed Ould R'zeizim were arrested. HP Pavilion DV9805ES Battery The coup was organized by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, former chief of staff of the Mauritanian army and head of the Presidential Guard, whom the president had just dismissed. Mauritania's presidential spokesman, Abdoulaye Mamadouba, said the President, HP Pavilion DV9805TX Battery Prime Minister, and Interior Minister had been arrested by renegade Senior Mauritanian army officers and were being held under house arrest at the presidential palace in Nouakchott.^[47][48][49] In the apparently successful and bloodless coup d'état, Abdallahi's daughter, Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi, said: HP Pavilion DV9806TX Battery "The security agents of the BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion) came to our home and took away my father."^[50] The coup plotters, all dismissed in a presidential decree shortly beforehand, included Abdel Aziz, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmad Ould Bakri. HP Pavilion DV9807TX Battery

After the coup

A Mauritanian lawmaker, Mohammed Al Mukhtar, claimed that many of the country's people were supporting the takeover of a government that had become "an authoritarian regime" under a president who had "marginalized the majority in parliament."^[52] The coup was also backed by Abdallahi's rival in the 2007 election, Ahmed Ould Daddah. HP Pavilion DV9808CA Battery However, Abdel Aziz's regime was isolated internationally, and became subject to diplomatic sanctions and the cancellation of some aid projects. It found few supporters (among them Morocco, Libya and Iran), while Algeria, the United States, France and other European countries criticized the coup, HP Pavilion DV9808EG Battery and continued to refer to Abdallahi as the legitimate president of Mauritania. Domestically, a group of parties coalesced around Abdallahi to continue protesting the coup, which caused the junta to ban demonstrations and crack down on opposition activists. International and internal pressure eventually forced the release of Abdallahi, HP Pavilion DV9808TX Battery who was instead placed under house arrest in his home village. The new government broke off relations with Israel. In March 2010 Mauritania's female foreign minister Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass announced that Mauritania had cut ties with Israel in a "complete and definitive way."^[53] HP Pavilion DV9809TX Battery Abdel Aziz had since the coup insisted on organizing new presidential elections to replace Abdallahi, but was forced to reschedule them due to internal and international opposition. However, during the spring of 2009, the junta negotiated an understanding with some opposition figures and international parties, which dramatically changed the situation. HP Pavilion DV9810CA Battery Abdallahi formally resigned, under protest, as it became clear that some opposition forces had defected from him and most international players, notably including France and Algeria, now lined up behind Abdel Aziz. The United States continued to criticize the coup, but did not actively oppose the elections. HP Pavilion DV9810EG Battery Abdallahi's resignation paved the way for the election of Abdel Aziz as civilian president, on 18 July, by a 52% majority. Many of Abdallahi's former supporters criticized this as a political ploy 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. HP Pavilion DV9810EL Battery Despite marginal complaints, the elections were almost unanimously accepted by Western, Arab and African countries, which lifted sanctions and resumed cooperation with Mauritania. By late summer, Abdel Aziz appeared to have secured his position and to have garnered widespread international and internal support, HP Pavilion DV9810ES Battery although several influential parties and political personalities, notably Senate chairman Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, continued to refuse the new order and call for Abdel Aziz's resignation. In February 2011, the waves of 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests spread to Mauritania, where hundreds of people took to the streets of Nouakchott.^[54] HP Pavilion DV9810TX Battery

Regions and departments

Mauritania is divided into 12 regions (régions) called wilaya and one capital district in Nouakchott, which in turn are subdivided into 44 departments (moughataa).

Geography

At 397,929 square miles (1,030,631 km²),^[55] Mauritania is the world's 29th-largest country (after Bolivia). HP Pavilion DV9810US Battery It is comparable in size to Egypt. It lies mostly between latitudes 14° and 26°N, and longitudes 5° and 17°W (small areas are east of 5° and west of 17°). Mauritania is generally flat, with vast arid plains broken by occasional ridges and cliff-like outcroppings. HP Pavilion DV9811EO Battery A series of scarps face south-west, longitudinally bisecting these plains in the center of the country. The scarps also separate a series of sandstone plateaus, the highest of which is the Adrar Plateau, reaching an elevation of 500 meters (1,640 ft). Spring-fed oases lie at the foot of some of the scarps. HP Pavilion DV9811TX Battery Isolated peaks, often rich in minerals, rise above the plateaus; the smaller peaks are called guelbs and the larger ones kedias. The concentric Guelb er Richat (also known as the Richat Structure) is a prominent feature of the north-central region. Kediet ej Jill, near the city of Zouîrât, has an elevation of 915 meters (3,002 ft) and is the highest peak. HP Pavilion DV9812EG Battery Approximately three quarters of Mauritania is desert or semidesert. As a result of extended, severe drought, the desert has been expanding since the mid-1960s. To the west, between the ocean and the plateaus, are alternating areas of clayey plains (regs) and sand dunes (ergs), some of which shift from place to place, gradually moved by high winds. HP Pavilion DV9812EO Battery The dunes generally increase in size and mobility toward the north.

Economy

Mauritania has one of the lowest GDP rates in Africa, despite being rich in natural resources. A majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, HP Pavilion DV9812TX Battery even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 50% of total exports. With the current rises in metal prices, gold and copper mining companies are opening mines in the interior. HP Pavilion DV9812US Battery The nation's coastal waters are among the richest fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue. The country's first deepwater port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. In recent years, drought and economic mismanagement have resulted in a buildup of foreign debt. HP Pavilion DV9813EO Battery In March 1999, the government signed an agreement with a joint World Bank-International Monetary Fund mission on a $54 million enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF). The economic objectives have been set for 1999–2002. Privatization remains one of the key issues. Mauritania is unlikely to meet ESAF's annual GDP growth objectives of 4%–5%.HP Pavilion DV9813TX Battery Oil was discovered in Mauritania in 2001 in the offshore Chinguetti field. Although potentially significant for the Mauritanian economy, it remains to be seen how much it will help the country. 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 producer." HP Pavilion DV9814TX Battery There may be additional oil reserves inland in the Taoudeni basin, although the harsh environment will make extraction expensive.^[57] The Government's current main problem is privatizing the economy.

Human rights

Under the Abdallahi government there was a widespread public perception of governmental corruption and a lack of access to government information. HP Pavilion DV9815EF Battery Sexism,female genital mutilation, child labour, human trafficking, and the political marginalization of largely southern-based ethnic groups continued to be problems.^[58] Following the 2008 coup, the military government of Mauritania faced severe international sanctions and internal unrest, HP Pavilion DV9815EL Battery and was accused by Amnesty International of practicing coordinated torture against criminal and political detainees.^[59] Amnesty has accused the Mauritanian legal system, both before and after the 2008 coup, of functioning with complete disregard for legal procedure, fair trial, or humane imprisonment. HP Pavilion DV9815NR Battery The organization has further accused the Mauritanian government of institutionalized and continuous use of torture throughout its post independence history.^[60][61][62]

Discrimination against black population

Since its independence, charges have been made that Mauritania’s society has been characterised by discrimination towards black populations, HP Pavilion DV9815TX Battery mainly Fula and Soninké, which are seen as contesting the political, economic and social dominance of Moors. Mauritanian blacks allegedly face discrimination in employment in the civil service, the administration of justice before regular and religious courts, access to loans and credits from banks and state owned enterprise, HP Pavilion DV9816TX Battery and opportunity for education and vocational training. These are the stated reasons why armed groups like the now exiled FLAM have carried out low level rebellions in the southern part of Mauritania. However, Mauritania is not a stratified society, with a large segment of the population not being either "Moor" or "black", but rather mixed (perhaps as high as 40% of the total population regarded as mixed). HP Pavilion DV9817CL Battery

Slavery

It has been proven that various forms of slavery are still practiced in Mauritania. Though legally "abolished" in 1981, it did not become a crime to own slaves until 2007. According to the US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report,^[63] abuses in Mauritania include: HP Pavilion DV9817TX Battery "...mistreatment of detainees and prisoners; security force impunity; lengthy pretrial detention; harsh prison conditions; arbitrary arrests; limits on freedom of the press and assembly; corruption; discrimination against women; female genital mutilation (FGM); child marriage; political marginalization of southern-based ethnic groups; HP Pavilion DV9818TX Battery racial and ethnic discrimination; slavery and slavery-related practices; and child labor." The report goes on to state, "Government efforts were not sufficient to enforce the antislavery law. No cases have been successfully prosecuted under the antislavery law despite the fact that de facto slavery exists in Mauritania." HP Pavilion DV9819TX Battery Sentenced to 6 months in jail in January 2011, Oumoulmoumnine Mint Bakar Vall is the only person prosecuted to date for owning slaves. It has recently been estimated that 10% to 20% (340,000 to 680,000 people) of the population of Mauritania lives in slavery.^[64] HP Pavilion DV9819WM Battery The government of Mauritania denies the existence of slavery in the country. In an interview, a Minister responded by stating; "I must tell you that in Mauritania, freedom is total: freedom of thought, equality - of all men and women of Mauritania....in all cases, especially with this government, this is in the past. HP Pavilion DV9820EA Battery There are probably former relationships - slavery relationships and familial relationships from old days and of the older generations, maybe, or descendants who wish to continue to be in relationships with descendants of their old masters, for familial reasons, or out of affinity, and maybe also for economic interests. HP Pavilion DV9820EF Battery But (slavery) is something that is totally finished. All people are free in Mauritania and this phenomenon no longer exists. And I believe that I can tell you that no one profits from this commerce." A majority of the population of Mauritania depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, HP Pavilion DV9820EG Battery even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 50% of total exports. The decline in world demand for this ore, however, has led to cutbacks in production. HP Pavilion DV9820EL Battery With the current rise in metal prices, gold and copper mining companies are opening mines in the interior. The nation's coastal waters are among the richest fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue. The country's first deep water port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. HP Pavilion DV9820EN Battery In recent years, drought and economic mismanagement have resulted in a buildup of foreign debt. In March 1999, the government signed an agreement with a joint World Bank-International Monetary Fund mission on a $54 million enhanced structural adjustment facility(ESAF). HP Pavilion DV9820ES Battery The economic objectives have been set for 1999-2002. Privatization remains one of the key issues.

Macro-economic trend

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Mauritania at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Mauritanian Ougulyas. HP Pavilion DV9820EV Battery Current GDP per capita of Mauritania grew 82% in the Sixties reaching a peak growth of 166% in the Seventies. But this proved unsustainable and growth consequently scaled back to 14% in the Eighties. Finally, it shrank by 29% in the Nineties. Mean wages were $0.97 per manhour in 2009. HP Pavilion DV9820TX Battery

Diversification

In 2007, mining industries accounted for well over 35 per cent of the Mauritanian economy, with the fish industry so much as 54% (with big changes between these industries in the power relationship). HP Pavilion DV9820US Battery Diversification of the economy into non-mining industries remains a long-term issue. Mauritania is a net importer of food, reportedly importing 70% of its domestic food needs.^[2]

Dispute with Woodside Petroleum

In February 2006, the Mauritanian government denounced amendments to an oil contract made by former leader Maaouiya Ould Taya with Woodside Petroleum, HP Pavilion DV9821EA Battery an Australian company. In 2004, Woodside had agreed to invest $US 600 million in developing Mauritania's Chinguetti offshore oil project. The controversial amendments, which Mauritanian authorities declared had been signed "outside the legal framework of normal practice, to the great detriment of our country",HP Pavilion DV9821EO Battery could cost Mauritania up to $200 million a year, according to BBC News. Signed by Woodside two weeks after the February 1, 2005 legislation authorizing the four amendments, they provided for a lower state quota in the profit-oil, and reduced taxes by 15 percent in certain zones. HP Pavilion DV9821TX Battery They also easedenvironmental constraints, and extended the length and scope of the exploitation and exploration monopoly, among other measures. The disputed amendments were signed by former oil minister Zeidane Ould Hmeida in February 2004 and March 2005. HP Pavilion DV9821US Battery Hmeida was arrested in January 2006 on charges of "serious crimes against the country's essential economic interests". Nouakchott's authorities declared that the government would likely seek international arbitration, which Woodside (which operated for Hardman, HP Pavilion DV9822EA Battery BG Group, Premier Oil, ROC Oil, Fusion, Petronas, Dana Petroleum, Energy Africa and the Hydrocarbons Mauritanian Society) also contemplated. Discovered in 2001, Chinguetti has proven reserves of about 120,000,000 barrels (19,000,000 m³) of oil. HP Pavilion DV9822TX Battery At the end of December 2005, authorities estimated that in 2006, the oil profits would be 47 billion ouguiyas (about US$180 million) and represent a quarter of the state budget, according to RFI.^[3] The Australian Federal Police are investigating Woodside for allegations of bribery and corruption in Mauritania (according to the Sydney Morning Herald ^[4][5]). HP Pavilion DV9823CA Battery Some U.S. oil companies are alleged to be playing a part in Mauritania's oil related corruption. Slavery in Mauritania is an entrenched phenomenon the national government has repeatedly tried to abolish, banning the practice in 1905, 1981, and August 2007.^[1][2] HP Pavilion DV9823CL Battery The descendants of black Africans abducted into slavery now live in Mauritania as "blacks" or haratin and partially still serve the "Moors" (semites), or bidhan, as slaves. The number of slaves in the country was not known exactly, but is was estimated to be up to 600,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population ^[3][4] of 3,069,000 people. HP Pavilion DV9823EF Battery Even though slavery is illegal, sociologist Kevin Balesbelieves that Mauritania is the country with the largest proportion of its population in slavery.^[5] Mauritanian organizations like El Hor الحر (translated as "free man"), In'itaq إنعتاق (translated as "emancipation") and SOS Esclaves (meaning "SOS Slaves" in French) work against slavery. HP Pavilion DV9823EM Battery A United Nations mission, headed by UN Special Rapporteur and mission leader Gulnara Shahinian, was in Mauritania in November 2009 to evaluate slavery practices in the country.^[6] The mission's findings were presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in August 2010. HP Pavilion DV9823TX Battery Mauritania's health care infrastructure in the early 1980s consisted of a central hospital in Nouakchott, twelve regional hospitals, a number of health clinics, maternal and child care centers, dispensaries, and mobile medical units to serve the countryside. All facilities suffered from a lack of equipment, supplies, and trained personnel. HP Pavilion DV9824CA Battery The ratio of people to hospital beds was 2,610 to one. The ratio of people to physicians was 13,350 to one. This ratio represented an improvement over the 1965 figure of 36,580 to one and was better than that of some of Mauritania's neighbors.^[1] In 1987 Mauritania's largest medical facility was the 500-bed government-run hospital in Nouakchott. HP Pavilion DV9825EA Battery Staffed by Mauritanian and expatriate doctors, it lacked supplies and properly maintained equipment. Other facilities included the National Health Center, built in 1977 for the study of disease prevention and methods of public health care education, and the National School of Nurses and Midwives, HP Pavilion DV9825EB Battery founded in 1966 to train nurses, midwives, and paramedical personnel.^[1] In general, health standards were quite low, and many infectious diseases were endemic. Contagious diseases (such as measles and tuberculosis) and respiratory disorders were more prevalent in northern arid regions, whereas malaria, guinea worm infection, HP Pavilion DV9825EG Battery and schistosomiasis were more common in the Senegal River Valley. The desert tended to be a healthier environment than the more tropical south, but several major diseases were common to all areas of the country.Typhoid, poliomyelitis, hepatitis, and a variety of parasitic illnesses also affected the population. HP Pavilion DV9825EL Battery In late 1987, the World Health Organization issued warnings about cholera, and outbreaks of both yellow fever and Rift Valley fever were reported in the extreme southern part of Trarza Region around Rosso. Contagious and infectious diseases were rampant in the kébés surrounding major towns, cities, and villages.^[1] HP Pavilion DV9825EO Battery In the mid-1980s, a mass vaccination campaign for children under five years of age was under way. The program, aimed at reducing infection from poliomyelitis, diphtheria, pertussis, and several other diseases, was reportedly meeting with some success. Malnutrition remained widespread, especially in children. HP Pavilion DV9825NR Battery The long-term drought and the consequent drop in food production exacerbated this problem during the early 1980s. According to a 1987 report by the United States Agency for International Development, between 40 percent and 70 percent of children under the age of five had experienced moderate to severe malnutrition. HP Pavilion DV9827CL Battery The degree of malnutrition varied according to the success or failure of local crops, and some slight improvement was noted in early 1987.^[1]

Maternal and Child Healthcare

In June 2011, the United Nations Population Fund released a report on The State of the World's Midwifery. HP Pavilion DV9827EG Battery It contained new data on the midwifery workforce and policies relating to newborn and maternal mortality for 58 countries. The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Mauritania is 550. This is compared with 712.2 in 2008 and 1295.4 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate, HP Pavilion DV9827EM Battery per 1,000 births is 118 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality is 35. The aim of this report is to highlight ways in which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, particularly Goal 4 – Reduce child mortality and Goal 5 – improve maternal death. HP Pavilion DV9829EO Battery In Mauritania the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 3 and 1 in 41 shows us the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women. The first system of public education in Mauritania was established by the French colonial administration. HP Pavilion DV9830EA Battery The first schools were largely concentrated in the sedentary communities of the Sénégal River Valley. In 1950, the first teacher training school was established at Boutilimit, and in 1957, the secondary school in Rosso also began training teachers. In part because public schools were concentrated in the south, black Africans enrolled in large numbers. HP Pavilion DV9830EB Battery As a result, the overwhelming majority of public school teachers were black, and the nation's secular educated class was dominated by black people.^[1] The few French schools located in nomadic areas had difficulty attracting students. HP Pavilion DV9830EF Battery The Maures in particular were reluctant to accept the public schools and continued to favor purely Islamic instruction. Gradually, however, they began to send their children to public schools, as they saw that traditional religious training was not preparing their children for life in the twentieth century. HP Pavilion DV9830EG Battery The French also experimented with "mobile schools" after World War II, and in this way they provided public education for a larger number of nomads. In 1954 there were twelve so-called "tent" schools serving 241 students. At least some of these tent schools continued to function after Mauritania gained independence from France in 1960.^[1] HP Pavilion DV9830EL Battery The independent government viewed secular education as one of the major methods to promote national unity, as well as a necessary step toward the development of a modern economy. It still faced shortages of funds, adequately trained teaching staff, and classroom facilities at all levels. HP Pavilion DV9830EO Battery Another teacher training school was opened in Nouakchott in 1964. School attendance was not compulsory, and in 1964-65 only 19,100 primary-school students and 1,500 secondary-school students (about 14 percent of school-age children) were enrolled. HP Pavilion DV9830ER Battery By 1985 an estimated 35 percent of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, but only about 4 to 10 percent of eligible secondary-school-age children were enrolled. In both cases, boys heavily outnumbered girls.^[1] In 1985-86, primary-school enrollments had climbed to 140,871, HP Pavilion DV9830ES Battery and enrollments in secondary and vocational schools amounted to 34,674. The government reported a total of 878 primary schools and 44 secondary or vocational institutions. A total of 4,336 students were enrolled in postsecondary training programs. An additional 448 students were attending the National Islamic Institute (formerly the Institute of Islamic Studies), HP Pavilion DV9830EV Battery and some 1,900 Mauritanians were enrolled in various training programs abroad. The public schools employed almost 2,900 primary teachers, 1,563 secondary and vocational teachers (412 of them foreign), and 237 postsecondary instructors, more than half of them expatriates. HP Pavilion DV9830US Battery In 1982, the National College of Administration and the National College of Sciences opened in Nouakchott, and in 1983 nearly 1,000 students began instruction at the University of Nouakchott.^[1] Illiteracy remained a major problem and an important impediment to economic and social development. HP Pavilion DV9831CA Battery In 1985, the adult literacy rate was estimated at 17 to 25 percent, approximately half the average for sub-Saharan Africa. Nonetheless, this rate represented an improvement over the estimated 5 percent literacy rate at independence and 10 percent a decade later. Recognizing the need for a better educated work force, HP Pavilion DV9832EO Battery in 1986, the government launched a major literacy campaign and created the State Secretariat of Culture, Information, and Telecommunications to head the effort. That same year, the government reported that the number of literacy classes had already increased more than ten times over the 1985 number.^[1] HP Pavilion DV9834CA Battery At the same time, the cost of education was quite high in comparison with neighboring countries. In the mid-1980s, Mauritania was spending about US$45 million (20 percent of current expenditures) on education every year. Its costs for primary schooling were the highest per student in francophone West Africa, HP Pavilion DV9835EF Battery and onlyCôte d'Ivoire exceeded the cost per secondary pupil. These high costs were due in part to teachers' salaries, particularly those of expatriates, and to a generous system of scholarships. Planned investment in education for the years 1985 through 1988 was set at US$27 million under the Economic Recovery Program for 1985-88, HP Pavilion DV9837EO Battery an increase of less than 1 percent over the period from 1980 through 1984.^[1] The French system of primary and secondary schools remained in force into the late 1980s. Over the years, however, some significant changes had been made, and others were planned. In the early 1980s, instruction in the Pulaar, Azayr (Soninke), HP Pavilion DV9838CA Battery and Wolof languages was introduced into the primary school curriculum, andArabic was emphasized at all levels. The official policy of gradually replacing French with local languages and Arabic, adopted in the late 1970s, drew vigorous protests from French-speaking black Mauritanians and was abandoned within a decade.^[1] HP Pavilion DV9839EO Battery Mauritania remained critically short of skilled labor. In the mid-1980s, only about 15 percent of secondary-school students were enrolled in vocational education. To redress this situation and to raise the general level of literacy, the government encouraged the growth of private and Quranic schools; most industrial training took place in private institutions. HP Pavilion DV9840EO Battery More important, the government also turned to the international community. In 1987 the World Bank agreed to help make Mauritania's education system more responsive to the country's development needs. Proposed changes involved expanding primary education and restructuring secondary schooling. HP Pavilion DV9840ES Battery Special attention was to be given to vocational training in areas of particular national need, such as water engineering and fisheries.^[1]

Current status

Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14. In 2002, the gross primary enrollment rate was 88 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 68 percent. Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. In 1996, 41.8 percent of children ages 7 to 14 years were attending school. As of 2001, 61 percent of children who started primary school were likely to reach grade 5. HP Pavilion DV9842EG Battery However, a lack of adequate school facilities and teachers, particularly in rural areas, is likely to impede the full realization of the government’s goal of universal primary education in Mauritania until at least 2007.^[2] Public school is free, but other costs such as books and lunches make education unaffordable for many poor children. HP Pavilion DV9842EO Battery Ongoing challenges to the provision of quality education in Mauritania include high dropout and repetition rates, inadequate curriculum, and a poor national infrastructure that prevents children from traveling to and from school. HP Pavilion DV9843CL Battery In 2002, a World Food Program (WFP) survey of out-of-school children in Mauritania found that 25 percent did not attend school due to the need to support their families or perform domestic work, and another 22 percent did not attend due to the distance to school. Virtually all Mauritanians are Sunni Muslims. HP Pavilion DV9845EK Battery They adhere to the Maliki madhab, one of the four Sunni schools of law. Since independence in 1960, Mauritania has been an Islamic republic. The Constitutional Charter of 1985 declares Islam the state religion and sharia the law of the land. Islam first spread southward into West Africa, including Mauritania, HP Pavilion DV9845EO Battery with the movement of Muslim traders and craftsmen and later with the founders of Islamic brotherhoods. Although the brotherhoods (Sufism and tariqa) played a role in the early expansion of Islam, HP Pavilion DV9845EZ Battery it was not until the nineteenth century that these religious orders assumed importance when they attempted to make religion a force for expanding identities and loyalties beyond the limits of kinship. HP Pavilion DV9847CA Battery The relative peace brought to the area by French administration and the growing resentment of colonial rule contributed to the rapid rise in the power and influence of the brotherhoods. In recent decades, these orders have opposed tribalism and have been an indispensable element in the growth of nationalist sentiment. HP Pavilion DV9847EO Battery Sufi brotherhoods In the 1980s, two brotherhoods (tariqa), the Qadiriyyah and the Tijaniyyah, accounted for nearly all the brotherhood membership in Mauritania. The Qadiriyyah and Tijaniyyah were essentially parallel "ways," differing primarily in their methods of reciting the litanies. HP Pavilion DV9849EF Battery Their Islamic doctrines and their religious obligations were basically similar. Two smaller brotherhoods also existed-- the Shadhiliyyah, centered in Boumdeït in Tagant Region, and theGoudfiya, found in the regions of Tagant, Adrar, Hodh ech Chargui, and Hodh el Gharbi. HP Pavilion DV9849EM Battery Indigenous traditions As Islam spread westward and southward in Africa, various elements of indigenous religious systems became absorbed into and then altered strictly Islamic beliefs. For example, the Islamic tradition in Mauritania began to include a variety of spirits and supernatural beings, whilst recognizing Allah as the only God. HP Pavilion DV9850EA Battery Muslims in Mauritania believe in various lesser spirits apparently transformed from pre-Islamic faiths into Islamic spirits. Religious demography The country has a total area of 397,840 square miles (1,030,400 km²), and its population is approximately 2.5 million. Almost all of the population are practicing Sunni Muslims. HP Pavilion DV9850EB Battery There is a little small number of non-Muslims. Roman Catholic and non-denominational Christian churches have been established in Nouakchott, Atar, Zouerate, Nouadhibou, and Rosso. A number of expatriates practice Judaism but there are no synagogues. HP Pavilion DV9850EF Battery There are several foreign faith-based nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) active in humanitarian and developmental work in the country. Status of religious freedom Islam is generally considered to be the essential cohesive element unifying the country's various ethnic groups and castes. There is a cabinet-level Ministry of Culture and Islamic Orientation and a High Council of Islam, consisting of six imams, which, at the Government's request, advises on the conformance of legislation to Islamic precepts. HP Pavilion DV9850EL Battery Mosques and Qur'anic schools are funded privately by their members and other donors. One exception is a small stipend to the imam of the Central Mosque in the capital city of Nouakchott provided by the government. The Government does not register religious groups; however, secular NGOs, HP Pavilion DV9850EO Battery inclusive of humanitarian and development NGO's affiliated with religious groups, must register with the Ministry of the Interior. Nonprofit organizations, including both religious groups and secular NGO's, generally are not subject to taxation. HP Pavilion DV9850ER Battery The judiciary consists of a single system of courts with a legal system that conforms with the principles of Shari'a (Islamic law). The Government observes Muslim holidays as national holidays. A magistrate of Shari'a, who heads a separate government commission, decides the dates for observing religious holidays and addresses the nation on these holidays. HP Pavilion DV9850ES Battery Restrictions on religious freedom There is no religious oath required of government employees or members of the ruling political party, except for the President and the members of the 5-person Constitutional Council and the 10-person High Council of Magistrates presided over by the President. HP Pavilion DV9850ET Battery The Constitutional Council and the High Council of Magistrates advise the President in matters of law and the Constitution. The oath of office includes a promise to God to uphold the law of the land in conformity with Islamic precepts. Proselytization to Muslims Although there is no specific legal prohibition against proselytizing by non-Muslims, HP Pavilion DV9850EV Battery in practice the Government prohibits proselytizing by non-Muslims through the use of Article 11 of the Press Act, which bans the publication of any material that is against Islam or contradicts or otherwise threatens Islam. The Government views any attempts by practitioners of other religions to convert Muslims as undermining society. HP Pavilion DV9851EG Battery Foreign faith-based NGO's limit their activities to humanitarian and development assistance. Even so, in June 2009 American aid worker Chris Leggett was murdered for allegedly proselytizing, according to theBarnabas Fund. Possession and distribution of Bibles Under Article 11 of the Press Law, the Government may restrict the importation, HP Pavilion DV9852EG Battery printing, or public distribution of Bibles or other non-Islamic religious literature, and in practice Bibles are neither printed nor publicly sold in the country. However, the possession of Bibles and other non-Islamic religious materials in private homes is legal. ^[1] Shari'a provides the legal principles upon which the law and legal procedure are based. HP Pavilion DV9853EG Battery Mauritania follows the Maliki madhab, which has certain unique laws not applicable to other madhabs. Football is the most popular sport in Mauritania, and is run by the Fédération de Foot-Ball de la Républic Islamique de Mauritanie. HP Pavilion DV9854CA Battery The association administers the Mauritanian national football team, as well as the Mauritanian Premier League. Mauritania has an international football team who play and train at the Olympic Stadium. They are currently playing against other African international teams for a spot in the next African Cup of Nations. HP Pavilion DV9858CA Battery Mauritania's premier national tournament is the Coupe de Presidente de la Republique (President's Cup). The nation's best-known and most successful team is ASC Garde Nationale of the Mauritanian Premier League. The music of Mauritania comes predominantly from the country's largest ethnic group: the Moors. HP Pavilion DV9858EZ Battery In Moorish society musicians occupy the lowest caste, iggawin. Musicians from this caste used song to praise successful warriors as well as their patrons. Iggawin also had the traditional role of messengers, spreading news between villages. In modern Mauritania, professional musicians are paid by anybody to perform; HP Pavilion DV9860EB Battery affluent patrons sometimes record the entertainment, rather than the musicians themselves, are then considered to own the recording. Instruments Traditional instruments include an hourglass-shaped four-stringed lute called the tidinit and the woman's kora-like ardin. HP Pavilion DV9860ED Battery Percussion instruments include thetbal (a kettle drum) and daghumma (a rattle). Types of Mauritanian music There are three "ways" to play music in the Mauritanian tradition: Al-bayda - the white way, associated with delicate and refined music, and the Bidan (Moors of North African stock) HP Pavilion DV9860EF Battery

• Al-kahla - the black way, associated with roots and masculine music, and the Haratin (Moors of Sub-Saharan stock)
• l'-gnaydiya - the mixed or "spotted" way

Music progresses through five modes (a system with origins in Arabic music): HP Pavilion DV9860ER Battery karr, fagu (both black), lakhal, labyad (both white, and corresponding to a period of one's life or an emotion) and lebtyat (white, a spiritual mode relating to the afterlife). There are further submodes, making for a complicated system, one to which nearly all male musicians conform. Female musicians are rare and are not bound by the same set of rules. HP Pavilion DV9860ES Battery Musicians In spite of the rarity of female musicians in Mauritania, the most famous Moorish musician is a woman, Dimi Mint Abba. Dimi's parents were both musicians (her father had been asked to compose the Mauritanian national anthem), and she began playing at an early age. HP Pavilion DV9860EV Battery Her professional career began in 1976, when she sang on the radio and then competed, the following year, in the Umm Kulthum Contest in Tunis. Another popular female musician is Malouma, who is also a respected social activist. HP Pavilion DV9860EZ Battery,HP Pavilion DV9860US Battery,HP Pavilion DV9865EG Battery