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69-447: Yoff ( Wolof : Yoof ; French : Yoff ) is a town ( commune d'arrondissement ), part of the city ( commune ) of Dakar , located in Senegal . It lies north of downtown Dakar and immediately north of Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport . The town is built along the broad beach at Yoff Bay . According to the 2014 census, the population of Yoff is 89,442 inhabitants. Yoff is one of

138-515: A 52% majority. Many of Abdallahi's former supporters criticized this as a political ploy and refused to recognize the results. Despite complaints, the elections were almost unanimously accepted by Western, Arab and African countries, which lifted sanctions and resumed relations with Mauritania. By late summer, Abdel Aziz appeared to have secured his position and to have gained widespread international and internal support. Some figures, such as Senate chairman Messaoud Ould Boulkheir , continued to refuse

207-558: A decree, as the effort by the Senegalese ministry of education was to be part of a multi-national standardization effort. This alphabet has been used since pre-colonial times, as the first writing system to be adopted for Wolof, and is still used by many people, mainly Imams and their students in Quranic and Islamic schools. Additionally, another script exists: Garay , an alphabetic script invented by Assane Faye 1961, which has been adopted by

276-652: A faint epenthetic schwa vowel. Of the consonants in the chart above, p d c k do not occur in the intermediate or final position, being replaced by f r s and zero, though geminate pp dd cc kk are common. Phonetic p c k do occur finally, but only as allophones of b j g due to final devoicing . Minimal pairs : Unlike most sub-Saharan African languages, Wolof has no tones . Other non-tonal languages of sub-Saharan Africa include Amharic , Swahili and Fula . In Wolof, verbs are unchangeable stems that cannot be conjugated. To express different tenses or aspects of an action, personal pronouns are conjugated – not

345-530: 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. 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, originally scheduled for 1992, is still supposed to be held at some point in

414-415: A result, 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 aligned with Abdel Aziz. The United States continued to criticize the coup, but did not actively oppose the elections. Abdallahi's resignation allowed the election of Abdel Aziz as civilian president, on 18 July, by

483-556: A small number of Wolof speakers. The first syllable of words is stressed ; long vowels are pronounced with more time but are not automatically stressed, as they are in English. The vowels are as follows: There may be an additional low vowel, or this may be confused with orthographic à . All vowels may be long (written double) or short. /aː/ is written ⟨à⟩ before a long (prenasalized or geminate) consonant (example làmbi "arena"). When é and ó are written double,

552-703: A −ATR root, any further suffixes harmonize with the root. That is, the +ATR suffix/clitic is "transparent" to vowel harmony. An example is the negative -u- in, Door-u-ma-leen-fa /dɔːrumalɛːnfa/ begin- NEG - 1SG - 3PL - LOC Door-u-ma-leen-fa /dɔːrumalɛːnfa/ begin-NEG-1SG-3PL-LOC 'I did not begin them there.' where harmony would predict *door-u-më-léén-fë . That is, I or U behave as if they are their own −ATR analogs. Authors differ in whether they indicate vowel harmony in writing, as well as whether they write clitics as separate words. Consonants in word-initial position are as follows: All simple nasals, oral stops apart from q and glottal, and

621-632: Is known as the Char Bouba War . The invaders were led by the Beni Hassan tribe. The descendants of the Beni Hassan warriors became the upper stratum of Moorish society. Hassaniya , a bedouin Arabic dialect named for the Beni Hassan, became the dominant language among the largely nomadic population. Starting in the late 19th century, France laid claim to the territories of present-day Mauritania, from

690-482: Is most often written in this orthography, in which phonemes have a clear one-to-one correspondence to graphemes . Table below is the Wolof Latin alphabet and the corresponding phoneme. Highlighted letters are only used for loanwords and are not included in native Wolof words. The Arabic -based script of Wolof, referred to as Wolofal , was set by the government as well, between 1985 and 1990, although never adopted by

759-504: Is multiethnic; the Bidhan , or so-called "white moors", make up 30% of the population, while the Haratin , or so-called "black moors", comprise 40%. Both groups reflect a fusion of Arab-Berber ethnicity, language, and culture. The remaining 30% of the population comprises various sub-Saharan ethnic groups . Mauritania takes its name from the ancient Berber kingdom that flourished beginning in

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828-584: Is not known but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that, as of June 1991, 52,995 Mauritanian refugees were living in Senegal and at least 13,000 in Mali. Opposition parties were legalized, and a new Constitution approved in 1991 which put an end to formal military rule. But President Ould Taya's election wins were dismissed as fraudulent by some opposition groups. In

897-697: Is one of the Senegambian languages , which are characterized by consonant mutation . It is often said to be closely related to the Fula language because of a misreading by Wilson (1989) of the data in Sapir (1971) that have long been used to classify the Atlantic languages. Senegalese/Mauritanian Wolof and Gambian Wolof are distinct national standards: they use different orthographies and use different languages (French vs. English) as their source for technical loanwords. However, both

966-461: Is spoken by more than 10 million people and about 40 percent (approximately 5 million people) of Senegal's population speak Wolof as their native language. Increased mobility, and especially the growth of the capital Dakar, created the need for a common language: today, an additional 40 percent of the population speak Wolof as a second or acquired language . In the whole region from Dakar to Saint-Louis , and also west and southwest of Kaolack , Wolof

1035-509: Is spoken by the vast majority of people. Typically when various ethnic groups in Senegal come together in cities and towns, they speak Wolof. It is therefore spoken in almost every regional and departmental capital in Senegal. Nevertheless, the official language of Senegal is French . In The Gambia , although about 20–25 percent of the population speak Wolof as a first language, it has a disproportionate influence because of its prevalence in Banjul ,

1104-799: Is the standard spelling and may also refer to the Wolof ethnicity or culture. Variants include the older French Ouolof , Jollof , or Jolof , which now typically refers either to the Jolof Empire or to jollof rice , a common West African rice dish. Now-archaic forms include Volof and Olof . English is believed to have adopted some Wolof loanwords , such as banana , via Spanish or Portuguese , and nyam , used also in Spanish: 'ñam' as an onomatopoeia for eating or chewing, in several Caribbean English Creoles meaning "to eat" (compare Seychellois Creole nyanmnyanm , also meaning "to eat"). Wolof

1173-728: The Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb . It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic . Berbers occupied what is now Mauritania by beginning of the third century AD. Groups of Arab tribes migrated to this area in the late seventh century, bringing with them Islam, Arab culture, and the Arabic language. In the early 20th century, Mauritania was colonized by France as part of French West Africa . It achieved independence in 1960, but has since experienced recurrent coups and periods of military dictatorship. The 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état

1242-570: The Military Committee for National Salvation . The energetic Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah soon emerged as its strongman. 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 Morocco, the other party to the conflict, and its European ally France, deteriorated. Instability continued, and Haidallah's ambitious reform attempts foundered. His regime

1311-660: The Senegal River area northwards. In 1901, Xavier Coppolani took charge of the imperial mission. Through a combination of strategic alliances with Zawaya tribes and military pressure on the Hassane warrior nomads, he managed to extend French rule over the Mauritanian emirates . Beginning in 1903 and 1904, the French armies succeeded in occupying Trarza , Brakna , and Tagant , but the northern emirate of Adrar held out longer, aided by

1380-536: The southern part of Western Sahara , framed as an attempt to create a " Greater Mauritania ". Col. Mustafa Ould Salek 's Military Committee for National Recovery 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,

1449-448: The BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion) came to our home and took away my father." The coup plotters, all dismissed in a presidential decree shortly beforehand, included Ould Abdel Aziz, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani , General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmed Ould Bakri. A Mauritanian lawmaker, Mohammed Al Mukhtar, claimed that many of the country's people supported

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1518-608: The Berber peoples of the kingdom, the Mauri people . The word "Mauri" is also the root of the name for the Moors . It was more commonly known to Arab geographers as Bilad Chinqit, "the land of the Chinguetti". The term "Mauritanie occidentale" was officially used in a ministerial circular in 1899, based on a proposal by Xavier Coppolani , a French military and colonial leader, who was instrumental in

1587-605: The Gambian capital, where 75 percent of the population use it as a first language. Furthermore, in Serekunda , The Gambia's largest town, although only a tiny minority are ethnic Wolofs, approximately 70 percent of the population speaks or understands Wolof. In Mauritania , about seven percent of the population (approximately 185,000 people) speak Wolof. Most live near or along the Senegal River that Mauritania shares with Senegal. Wolof

1656-462: The Halpularen ethnic group. The tension culminated in an international airlift agreed to by Senegal and Mauritania under international pressure to prevent further violence. The Mauritanian Government expelled thousands of black Mauritanians. Most of these so-called 'Senegalese' had few or no ties with Senegal, and many have been repatriated from Senegal and Mali after 2007. The exact number of expulsions

1725-592: The Mauritanian Army and head of the presidential guard, who had recently been fired. Mauritania's presidential spokesman, Abdoulaye Mamadouba, said the President, 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 the capital. In the apparently successful and bloodless coup, Abdallahi's daughter, Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi, said: "The security agents of

1794-684: The Sahara to the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. According to a disputed Arab tradition the Almoravids traveled south and conquered the ancient and extensive Ghana Empire around 1076. From 1644 to 1674 the indigenous peoples of the area that is modern Mauritania made what became their final effort to repel the Yemeni Maqil Arabs who were invading their territory. This effort, which was unsuccessful,

1863-588: The US and Europe. It was rewarded with diplomatic normalization and aid projects. On 28 October 1999, Mauritania 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 that was criticized by some human rights organizations. (See also Foreign relations of Mauritania .) During

1932-515: The Western Sahara conflict has been, since the 1980s, one of strict neutrality. The Mauritania–Senegal Border War started as a result of a conflict in Diawara between Moorish Mauritanian herders and Senegalese farmers over grazing rights. On 9 April 1989, Mauritanian guards killed two Senegalese. Following the incident, several riots erupted in Bakel , Dakar and other towns in Senegal, directed against

2001-522: The accent mark is often only on the first letter. Vowels fall into two harmonizing sets according to ATR : i u é ó ë are +ATR, e o a are the −ATR analogues of é ó ë . For example, Lekk-oon-ngeen /lɛkːɔːnŋɡɛːn/ eat- PAST - FIN . 2PL Lekk-oon-ngeen /lɛkːɔːnŋɡɛːn/ eat-PAST-FIN.2PL 'You (plural) ate.' Dóor-óon-ngéen /doːroːnŋɡeːn/ hit- PAST - FIN . 2PL Dóor-óon-ngéen /doːroːnŋɡeːn/ hit-PAST-FIN.2PL 'You (plural) hit.' There are no −ATR analogs of

2070-474: The anticolonial rebellion (or jihad ) of shaykh Maa al-Aynayn and by insurgents from Tagant and the other occupied regions. In 1904, France organized the territory of Mauritania, and it became part of French West Africa , first as a protectorate and later as a colony. In 1912, the French armies defeated Adrar, and incorporated it into the territory of Mauritania. French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery and an end to interclan warfare. During

2139-567: The capital Nouakchott . The coup proceeded without loss of life. Calling themselves the Military Council for Justice and Democracy , the officers released the following statement: 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. The Military Council later issued another statement naming Colonel Ould Mohamed Vall as president and director of

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2208-420: The colonial occupation and creation of modern-day Mauritania. This term, employed by the French, gradually replaced other designations previously used for referring to the country. The ancient tribes of Mauritania were Berber , Niger-Congo , and Bafour peoples. The Bafour were among the first Saharan peoples to abandon their previously nomadic lifestyle and adopt a primarily agricultural one. In response to

2277-483: The colonial period 90% of the population remained nomadic. Gradually many individuals belonging to sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to migrate into Mauritania. Until 1902, the capital of French West Africa was in modern-day Senegal. It was first established at Saint-Louis and later, from 1902 to 1960, in Dakar. When Senegal gained its independence that year, France chose Nouakchott as

2346-601: The country (or 2.1% of the population). . Despite an abundance of natural resources, including iron ore and petroleum, Mauritania remains poor; its economy is based primarily on agriculture, livestock, and fishing. Mauritania is culturally and politically part of the Arab world ; it is a member of the Arab League and Arabic is the official language. The official religion is Islam , and almost all inhabitants are Sunni Muslims . Despite its prevailing Arab identity , Mauritanian society

2415-634: The country's sacrifice and defense. In late 2018, Mauritania bribed members of the EU parlament ( Antonio Panzeri ) to "not speak ill of Mauritania" in what became known as the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament . In August 2019 Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was sworn in as president after the 2019 elections , which were considered Mauritania's first peaceful transition of power since independence. In June 2021 former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz

2484-521: The education system. This was also a reaction to the consequences of the French domination under the colonial rule. Various models for maintaining the country's cultural diversity have been suggested, but none have been successfully implemented. This ethnic discord was evident during intercommunal violence that broke out in April 1989 (the " Mauritania–Senegal Border War "), but has since subsided. Mauritania expelled some 70,000 sub-Saharan African Mauritanians in

2553-468: The four original Lebou villages of the  Cap-Vert  Peninsula, along with  Hann , Ngor , and Ouakam . Originally Yoff was a small fishing village, being founded in 1432 as Mbohehe. Administration is devolved to the town, which is essentially run by the Layene Islamic Brotherhood , the town featuring the mausoleum of its founder. As a result, no alcohol is available in

2622-554: 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. In 1960, Mauritania became an independent nation. 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 became

2691-574: The gradual desiccation of the Sahara, they eventually migrated southward. Many of the Berber tribes have claimed to have Yemeni (and sometimes other Arab) origins. Little evidence supports those claims, although a 2000 DNA study of the Yemeni people suggested some ancient connection might exist between the peoples. The Umayyads were the first Arab Muslims to enter Mauritania. During the Islamic conquests , they made incursions into Mauritania and were present in

2760-407: The grounds of the airport. Wolof language Wolof is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, spoken natively by the Wolof people (40% of the population) but also by most other Senegalese as a second language. Wolof dialects vary geographically and between rural and urban areas. The principal dialect of Dakar , for instance, is an urban mixture of Wolof, French , and Arabic . Wolof

2829-426: The high vowels i u . They trigger +ATR harmony in suffixes when they occur in the root, but in a suffix, they may be transparent to vowel harmony. The vowels of some suffixes or enclitics do not harmonize with preceding vowels. In most cases following vowels harmonize with them. That is, they reset the harmony, as if they were a separate word. However, when a suffix/clitic contains a high vowel (+ATR) that occurs after

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2898-401: The late 1980s Ould Taya had established close co-operation with Iraq , and pursued a strongly Arab nationalist line. 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

2967-433: The late 1980s. Ethnic tensions 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 seek a more diverse, pluralistic society. The International Court of Justice concluded that in spite of some evidence of both Morocco's and Mauritania's legal ties prior to Spanish colonization, neither set of ties

3036-494: The mainly Arabized Mauritanians who dominated the local retail business. The rioting, adding to already existing tensions, led to a campaign of terror against black Mauritanians, who are often seen as 'Senegalese' by the Bidān (White Moors), regardless of their nationality. As low scale conflict with Senegal continued into 1990/91, the Mauritanian government engaged in or encouraged acts of violence and seizures of property directed against

3105-486: The military junta organizing elections within a promised two-year timeline. In a referendum on 26 June 2006, 97% of Mauritanians approved a new constitution that 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. Mauritania's establishment of relations with Israel – it was one of only three Arab states to recognize Israel – was maintained by

3174-468: The military coup in 2005. This was the first time since Mauritania gained independence in 1960 that it elected a president in a multi-candidate election. The elections were won in a second round of voting by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi , with Ahmed Ould Daddah a close second. On 6 August 2008 the head of the presidential guards took over the president's palace in Nouakchott, a day after 48 lawmakers from

3243-457: The national police force, the Sûreté Nationale . Vall, once regarded as a firm ally of the now-ousted president, had aided Ould Taya in the coup that had originally brought him to power, and had later served as his Security Chief. 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

3312-549: The new order and call for Abdel Aziz's resignation. In February 2011 the waves of the Arab Spring spread to Mauritania, where thousands of people took to the streets of the capital. In November 2014 Mauritania was invited as a non-member guest nation to the G20 summit in Brisbane . The national flag of Mauritania was changed on 5 August 2017. Two red stripes were added as a symbol of

3381-588: The new regime, despite widespread criticism from the opposition. They considered that position as a legacy of the Taya regime's attempts to curry favor with the West. Parliamentary and municipal elections in Mauritania took place on 19 November and 3 December 2006. Mauritania's first fully democratic presidential elections took place on 11 March 2007. The elections effected the final transfer from military to civilian rule following

3450-650: The new state. At the same time, the French were militarily suppressing the most intransigent Hassane tribes in the north. French pressure on those tribes altered the existing balance of power, and new conflicts arose between the southern populations and the Moors. The great Sahel droughts of the early 1970s caused massive devastation in Mauritania, exacerbating problems of poverty and conflict. The arabized dominant elites 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

3519-561: The northeast , Mali to the east and southeast , and Senegal to the southwest . By land area Mauritania is the 11th-largest country in Africa and 28th-largest in the world; 90% of its territory is in the Sahara . Most of its population of some 4.3 million lives in the temperate south of the country, with roughly a third concentrated in the capital and largest city, Nouakchott , on the Atlantic coast. The country's name derives from Mauretania ,

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3588-508: The regime of President Ould Taya Mauritania developed economically, oil was discovered in 2001 by the Woodside Company. On 3 August 2005 a military coup led by Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall ended President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya 's twenty-one years of rule. Taking advantage of Ould Taya's attendance at the funeral of Saudi King Fahd , the military, including members of the presidential guard (BASEP), seized control of key points in

3657-653: The region by the end of the seventh century. Many Berber tribes in Mauritania fled the arrival of the Arabs to the Gao region in Mali . Other peoples also migrated south past the Sahara and into West Africa. In the 11th century, several nomadic Berber confederations in the desert regions overlapping present-day Mauritania joined together to form the Almoravid movement. They expanded north and south, spawning an important empire that stretched from

3726-444: The release of Abdallahi, who was instead placed under house arrest in his home village. The new government broke off relations with Israel. After the coup Abdel Aziz insisted on holding new presidential elections to replace Abdallahi, but was forced to reschedule them due to internal and international opposition. During the spring of 2009, the junta negotiated an understanding with some opposition figures and international parties. As

3795-407: The ruling organization in a one-party system . The President justified this on the grounds that Mauritania was not ready for western style multiparty democracy . Under this one-party constitution, Daddah was re-elected in uncontested elections in 1976 and 1978. Daddah was ousted in a bloodless coup on 10 July 1978. He had brought the country to near-collapse through the disastrous war to annex

3864-471: The ruling party resigned in protest of President Abdallahi's policies. 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. The President, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef , and Mohamed Ould R'zeizim, Minister of Internal Affairs, were arrested. The coup was coordinated by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz , former chief of staff of

3933-467: The site of the new capital of Mauritania. At the time, Nouakchott was little more than a fortified village (or ksar ). After Mauritanian independence, larger numbers of indigenous sub-Saharan African peoples ( Haalpulaar , Soninke , and Wolof ) migrated into it, most of them settling in the area north of the Senegal River . Many of these new arrivals had been educated in the French language and customs, and became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in

4002-414: The sonorants l r y w may be geminated (doubled), though geminate r only occurs in ideophones . (Geminate consonants are written double.) Q is inherently geminate and may occur in an initial position; otherwise, geminate consonants and consonant clusters, including nt, nc, nk, nq ( [ɴq] ), are restricted to word-medial and -final position. In the final place, geminate consonants may be followed by

4071-502: The spoken and written languages are mutually intelligible. Lebu Wolof , on the other hand, is incomprehensible to standard Wolof speakers, a distinction that has been obscured because all Lebu speakers are bilingual in standard Wolof. Note: Phonetic transcriptions are printed between square brackets [] following the rules of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The Latin orthography of Wolof in Senegal

4140-517: The takeover of a government that had become "an authoritarian regime" under a president who had "marginalized the majority in parliament". However, Abdel Aziz's regime was isolated internationally, and became subject to diplomatic sanctions and the cancellation of some aid projects. 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

4209-560: The third century BC and later became the Roman province of Mauretania , which flourished into the seventh century AD. The two territories do not overlap, though; historical Mauretania was considerably farther north than modern Mauritania, as it was spread out along the entire western half of the Mediterranean coast of Africa. The term "Mauretania", in turn, derives from the Greek and Roman exonym for

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4278-493: The town. Fishing is an important local industry, as are the Lebou ndeup healing ceremonies (see Saltigue ). There are numerous construction-industry businesses and suppliers in the Yoff area, and it includes the largest Muslim cemetery serving greater Dakar. Senegal Airlines has its head office on the airport property. At one time Air Sénégal International had its head office on

4347-599: The verbs. Therefore, the term temporal pronoun has become established for this part of speech. It is also referred to as a focus form. Mauritania This is an accepted version of this page Mauritania , formally the Islamic Republic of Mauritania , is a sovereign country in Northwest Africa . It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to

4416-567: Was arrested amidst a corruption probe into allegations of embezzlement. In December 2023, Aziz was sentenced to 5 years in prison for corruption. In January and February 2024 there was a sudden increase of refugees from 2000 to 12,000 arriving on the Canary Islands by boat, so in March 2024, Ursula von der Leyen and Pedro Sánchez visited and the EU made a €210mn deal with Mauritania to reduce passage of African migrants through its territory towards

4485-432: Was deposed by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya , who, while retaining tight military control, relaxed the political climate. Ould Taya moderated Mauritania's previous pro-Algerian stance, and re-established ties with Morocco during the late 1980s. He deepened these ties during the late 1990s and early 2000s, as part of Mauritania's drive to attract support from Western states and Western-aligned Arab states. Its position on

4554-399: Was led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz , who won subsequent presidential elections in 2009 and 2014 . He was succeeded by General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani following the 2019 elections , head of an autocratic government with a very poor human rights record , particularly because of its perpetuation of slavery ; the 2018 Global Slavery Index estimates there are about 90,000 slaves in

4623-495: Was plagued by attempted coups and intrigue within the military establishment. It became increasingly contested due to his harsh and uncompromising measures against opponents; many dissidents were jailed, and some executed. Slavery in Mauritania still exists, despite being officially abolished three timesː 1905, 1981, and again in August 2007. Anti-slavery activists are persecuted, imprisoned and tortured. In December 1984 Haidallah

4692-434: Was set by government decrees between 1971 and 1985. The language institute " Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar " (CLAD) is widely acknowledged as an authority when it comes to spelling rules for Wolof. The complete alphabet is A, À, B, C, D, E, É, Ë, F, G, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, Ŋ, O, Ó, P, Q, R, S, T, U, W, X, Y. The letters H, V, and Z are not included in native Wolof words. They are only used in foreign words. Wolof

4761-692: Was sufficient to affect the application of the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to Western Sahara . In 1976, Mauritania, along with Morocco , annexed the territory of Western Sahara . After several military losses to the Polisario – heavily armed and supported by Algeria, the regional power and rival to Morocco – Mauritania withdrew in 1979. Its claims were taken over by Morocco. Due to economic weakness, Mauritania has been

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