Mauritania Geography

Meseta de Adrar

Topography of Mauritania. Richat's structure is appreciated in the center.

Mauritania is located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. It limits to the north with Western Sahara, to the northeast with Algeria, to the east with Mali and to the south with Senegal and Mali. The Senegal River is the one that serves as a border for both countries.

The country is dominated by the Sahara desert, which occupies almost the entire territory, except for a narrow strip of coastline, where almost all the major cities of the country are located: Nouakchott, Nuadibou, and the southern strip, on its borders with Senegal and Mali... The main cities in the interior are Tidjikja, Atar, Chingueti, etc.

Relief

Richat's structure. It is believed that it has formed due to differential erosion on quartzite layers with this arrangement.

The relief is eminently flat, made up of vast and arid plains broken by escarpments and rocky outcrops. Mauritania is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and the Western Sahara, Mali and Algeria. It is considered both part of the Sahel and the Maghreb. A series of escarpments, between the center and the southwest, separated by sandstone plateaus, cut the plain. The highest is the Adrar plateau, about 500 m above sea level. At the foot of the escarpments there are some springs. A few isolated peaks rise above the plateaus. The smaller ones are called guelbs and the bigger ones kedias. The Richat structure stands out, a guelb almost 50 km in diameter that has a concentric circular shape and a combination of limestone and volcanic rocks.

Major geographical accidents in Mauritania.

The plateaus gradually descend to the northeast, the enormous sedimentary basin of El Djouf, at about 320 m altitude, an immensity of dunes separated by eroded ridges that extends to Mali. This region is part of the Sahara desert.

To the west, between the ocean and the plateaus, areas of stony plains alternate, reg, with areas of dunes, erg. The dunes are shifting and tend to increase in size to the north. The coastal plain is less than 45 m high, while the plateaus oscillate between 180 and 230 m, although towards the interior they gradually rise through escarpments that are more like slopes, although there are also inselbergs, among which Mount Ijill or Mount Ijill stands out. Kediet Ijill, 915 m, a huge block of hematite, iron ore.

Three quarters of Mauritania is desert or semi-desert. In addition, drought has been expanding the desert since the 1960s. To the southwest, belts of vegetation appear that become savannah and traces of tropical forest in the vicinity of the Senegal River.

Geology

Geologically, Mauritania is divided into four zones. The first, in the north and northwest, is made up of Precambrian rocks (2.7 billion years old), which emerge to form the skeleton of the Reguibat mountain range and the Akjoujt series of rocks, which forms a vast peneplain dotted with inselbergs.

The second zone, in the center and northeast, consists of a series of synclines: Tindouf, covered with sandstones, on the border with Algeria, and Taoudeni, which occupies two thirds of the African craton Western, bordered by the Adrar Plateau, the Tagant Plateau and the Assaba Plateau, and the Affollé Anticline, with the Hodh Depression.

The third zone is formed by the Mauritanian chain, called the 'diorite belt', formed due to orogenic movements during the end of the Proterozoic and the Paleozoic, on the western margin of the craton of West Africa. It extends from north to south and occupies about 2,500 km between Senegal and Morocco, passing through Mauritania. It is formed by sedimentary, eruptive and metamorphic rocks, from the Precambrian to the Paleozoic.

The fourth zone is the Senegalese-Mauritanian sedimentary basin, which includes the Mauritanian coast and the Senegal River in the southwest. It is made up of Cenozoic, Early Cretaceous, and Quaternary sedimentary rocks. Clay limestone, sandstone and clay. On the coast, four marine transgressions that have given rise to dunes, sandstone, limestone, sandbanks and shell beds.

Climate

Cloud of dust entering the Atlantic Ocean from Mauritania driven by the Alisian winds.

Mauritania's climate is characterized by extreme temperatures and scant and irregular rainfall. The annual variations are small, but the diurnal variations are very high. The harmattan wind, dry and hot, and often laden with dust, blows from the Sahara during the long dry season and is the prevailing wind, except in the coastal strip, where oceanic winds prevail. Most of the rain falls during the short wet season, from July to September, and average rainfall ranges from 500-600 mm in the extreme south, and less than 100 mm in the north, in two thirds of the year. country.

On the coast, the Canary Islands Current, a cold-water marine current that circulates from north to south, causes temperatures to be cool and pleasant all year round in the northern half of the Mauritanian coast. In Nouadhibou, temperatures range from 15 to 23.oC in winter, with mists frequent, and 20 and 27.oC of summer, except when the wind blows from the desert, which can push the thermometer up to 37-38.oC. The sea temperature in this area is 19.oC in January and 24.oC in September. The average precipitation in Nouadhibou is 18 mm.

In the inland areas of northern Mauritania, in the middle of the desert, it is colder in winter, but in July and August it exceeds 40 oC daily, and in the northeast it reaches 50 oC. In Zuérate, in January, temperatures range between 12 and 22.oC, and in August between 27 and 40.orC. Rainfall reaches 55 mm, with a maximum of 20 mm in September.

The south central region belongs to the Sahel and is affected by the monsoons. Nouakchott, on the coast, is warm year-round, with January temperatures between 15 and 27.oC and in September between 26 and 33.oC. Between 100 and 160 mm of rain fall per year, between July and October, with a maximum in August.

In the far south, inland, temperatures rise, in Kiffa, 500 km from the sea, temperatures in January range from 17 to 28.oC and in May and June between 30 and 41.oC. Rainfall in this region ranges from 200 to 400 mm, with a maximum of around 100 mm in August.

On the border with Senegal, rainfall increases to 400-600 mm, with a Sahelian-Sudanese climate that sees rainfall of up to 200 mm in August. In Sélibaby, 475 mm falls between June and October, with temperatures between 16 and 33.oC in January, and from 28 to 42.oC in May, before the rains.

Mauritania protected areas

Giant lighter in the National Park of the Bank of Arguin.

Map of the National Park of the Bank of Arguin

In Mauritania there are 2 national parks, 1 coastal satellite reserve in Cabo Blanco, 1 biosphere reserve in the Senegal river delta and 4 Ramsar sites that include the 2 national parks.

• Parque Nacional del Banco de Arguin, 12.075 km2, opposite Cabo Blanco. Ramsar site. Coastal area with wetlands, marine areas, isolated islands, canals, sand banks, streams and some mangroves.

• Diawling National Park, 130 km2, west of the Djoudj National Park in Senegal. Ramsar Site and World Heritage Site. Saline plain in the bass delta of Senegal, dunes, coastal lagoons, a estuary with mangroves, fish, shrimp and shrimp that feed numerous birds: cormorants, storks, spatulas, garcetas, anades and ditches. Among the mammals are facoceros, chacales and red monkeys.

• Cabo Blanco satellite reserve, 2.1 km2, marine and coastal area, opposite the National Park of the Bank of Arguin. World Heritage as a reserve of the monk seal.

• The Senegal River Delta Biosphere Reserve, 2005 is part of the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve between Mauritania and Senegal. Created in 2005, it covers 6,418 km2, of which 5,625 km2 on land and 793 km2 on the sea. This vast area covers 4 Ramsar sites and 2 World Heritage Sites, including the city of Saint Louis. It integrates the Chat Tboul Reserve and the Diawling National Park in Mauritania, and, in Senegal, the Aves del Djoudj National Park (160 km2), the Guembeul Special Wildlife Reserve (7.2 km2), the Langue de Barbarie National Park (20 km2), the estuary of the Senegal River and the urban centre of Saint Louis.

• Chat Tboul, 155 km2, Ramsar site, 16°33'N 16°24', west of the national park of the Djoudj Aves, in Senegal, between the river and the coast, is part of the north of the delta of the Senegal River in one of its mouths. About 10 km of coastal dunes full of wetlands, salt lakes, ponds, estuaries and swamp areas. pelicans, red flamingos, picophine seagulls, common avocetas, etc. Threatened by overfishing and the possibility of planting rice.

• Lake Gabou and Tagant Plateau hydrographic network, 95 km2, Ramsar site, 17°56'N 011°52'W. Composed of a network of rivers flowing from the region that forms the boundary between the Sahel and the Sahara, in the Tagant plateau, to give rise to Lake Gabou, several temporary lagoons and ponds, as well as springs and oasis, enough to maintain a flora of the Phoenix dactylifera and Hyphaene thebaica, two species of palm trees of great economic value, baobabs and winter roses, typical of the sahelian savannah. There are crocodiles, which hide in the muddy areas until the rainy season begins, and migratory birds such as white stork and black stork. The place is threatened by climate change.

Population and ethnic groups of Mauritania

Haratin girl from Morocco

Mauritanian child on the beach of Nuakchot.

In the Islamic Republic of Mauritania there is an estimated population in 2019 of 4.66 million inhabitants, although some estimates do not exceed 4 million. It is estimated that 30-40% of the population is white Arab (Arab-Berbers, Beidanes or White Moors); another 30-40% would be Haratines, descendants of Arabized sub-Saharan slaves (Black Moors), and the remaining 20-30% would be non-Arabized Blacks, including the Fula or Fulani, Toucouleur, Bambara, Soninke, Serer, Wolof, and Haratin peoples. Several ethnic groups are farmers and herders: the Beidan, also called White Moors, in contrast to the darker-skinned Haratin (Black Moors) who are descendants of freed black slaves, the Soninke and Serer, while the fulas are farmers and semi-nomadic herders. The term Moorish does not define any ethnic group, but was used by European Christians to define the Arab or Berber populations of North Africa, like the term Saracens.

In general, Arabs are more numerous in the north and blacks in the south, although there are no regions inhabited solely by blacks. Regions like Guidimaka, to the south, are home to 50% Soninkes, 25% Fulas and 25% Arabs. In the Gorgol region, also to the south, there are black and white Moors, Fulas or Peuls, Soninkés, Bambaras and Wolof, but the common language is the Fula or Peul language. In Nouakchott, the capital, there is a mix of Arabs, Westerners, and blacks of all ethnicities. There are neighborhoods where they are mixed and others where blacks predominate. In general, black and white Moors are in the majority. The rich neighborhoods are to the north.

The social system is the same in all ethnic groups. Groups are divided into hierarchical classes. At the head are the nobles, who are by birth, followed by the servants and finally the slaves. The noble Moors are headed in turn by warriors, descendants of Beni Hassan and known as hassanis, and the murabit or marabouts, dedicated to the study of religion. The warriors, of Arab descent, known as zawaya, receive tribute from the beidan, who are their vassals. In this hierarchy, the base is formed by two groups of artisans, the blacksmiths and the griot, or storytellers. The servile classes are divided into slaves and freedmen. The Haratin are fairly autonomous, but are limited by their more nomadic economy.

Ethnicities

• Beidan (in Arabic Bîdhân, "white"). About 600,000. Descendants of the Arab-Bebers of North Africa, many of them coming from the Iberian peninsula when they were expelled during the Reconquest.
• Haratin. About 600,000 in Mauritania, 40% of the total 1.5 million. They are the former slaves released after 1981, when slavery was abolished and adopted the language of their former masters, the hassany. In practice, many haratines remain linked to their masters, hence the fact that slavery is still practised in Mauritania. In many cases, the differences between white and black Arabs are not noticeable, as they are social rather than physical. Haratin serve as domestic assistants and workers in the fields, when they do not live in the cities.
• Toucouleur or tukulor. They live in the Senegal River valley.
• Fulani. Surrounded.
• Soninké. About 140,000 in Mauritania. They are a Mandinga people, important in countries such as Senegal, the Gambia and Mali, but in Mauritania they live in scattered groups.
• Wolof. On the southwest coast, near Rosso.
• Bambara. Mandinga people who founded the empire of Mali in the centuryXIIIwhose remains are located in Tichit, south of Mauritania.

Slavery in Mauritania

The 1981 ban on slavery was never fully complied with in Mauritania. According to Amnesty International and other NGOs, between 10 and 20 percent of the population lives under a slave regime, in a number that exceeds 90,000 people according to the Global Slavery Index, 21.5 out of every 1,000 individuals. However, slavery is prohibited and punishable by jail. It is practiced by white Arabs, but also by the Wolof, the Peul and the Soninke. It is seen in the form of child and domestic labor, child marriages, prostitution, and human trafficking. Haratin children are sometimes sold to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where they practice trades that white Arabs consider vile for them.

Demographic profile

The fertility rate is 4 children per woman and almost 60% of the population is under 25 years of age. Schooling is insufficient, especially for women. Literacy is 50%. The persistence of slave-owning traditions does not contribute to the education of the Haratin or black Moors, who continue to be subjected to forced marriages and ignorance. Drought, poverty and unemployment have driven emigration since the 1970s to West African countries such as Senegal, Mali, the Ivory Coast and the Gambia. The Mauritanian-Senegal war of 1989 forced many Mauritanians of color to emigrate to Senegal, from where they went to Libya, the Persian Gulf countries and Europe. Currently, it is an important transit point for migration to Europe, especially to Spain through the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla.