A little history

The first human presence in Mauritania is thought to date back to the Lower Palaeolithic — more than 600,000 years ago — as the countless traces left in the north of the country seem to attest.

A hinge between white North Africa and black West Africa, Mauritania played an important role in trans-Saharan trade. Rich caravan cities appeared here. A few centuries before the Hegira, Berber populations spread across the western Saharan space and handled the traffic between North Africa and the Saharan principalities of Aoudaghost, Tekrour and Ghana, their journeys made possible by the use of the camel.

In the 10th century, the Almoravids gathered certain tribes of the Adrar and created a western Maghreb empire in the north; in the 11th century they established in the south a Muslim Berber domination that was short-lived. From the end of the 12th century, southern Mauritania became an outer province of the two great Sudanese empires, Mali and Songhai. In the 14th century, the routes between the Niger and the Maghreb favoured the exploitation of the Teghaza salt mines and the rise of the small city of Oualata. Other cities — Chinguetti, Ouadane — developed.

From the 15th century onwards, Mauritania's history was marked by two events of extreme importance: the advance of the Hassan Arab tribes, whose infiltration into the country began around 1400, and the arrival of the Europeans with the first attempts to colonise the coast.

The tension between the Beni Hassan tribes and the Lemtouna tribes was long and fierce, and ended in victory for the former. A new Mauritanian state was built: the Hassan Arabs were its warriors, while the Zouaya Berbers were confined to the peaceful pursuits of religion and trade. A regional organisation of the tribes gradually emerged; four great emirates were born: Trarza, Brakna, Tagant and Adrar. Along the southern borders, Muslim dominions took hold, such as the Fula state of Fouta Toro and the kingdom of Oualo.

In 1855, Faidherbe annexed the Oualo. The Trarza and Brakna tribes were held responsible for the insecurity of relations on the upper Senegal River, and France took advantage of this to occupy the Mauritanian bank. Thus began the protectorate, first imposed on the emirates of Trarza and Brakna.

The Tagant, the Adrar and the Hodh were occupied in 1903, 1908 and 1911 respectively. The link with the Algerian Sahara was completed in 1920. That year, Mauritania became one of the colonies of French West Africa (A.O.F.).

French colonial penetration was fiercely resisted from 1899 onwards. After 1920, resistance became a general phenomenon that continued until 1932 (battle of Moutounsi) and even beyond.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania (RIM) was proclaimed on 28 November 1958. On 22 March 1959, Mauritania adopted its first constitution, before gaining national independence on 28 November 1960.