|
|
Index / Peoples
  Mauritania /
Peoples
|
|
Ethnic groups
Figures in 1000. |
Moors
|
2,400 |
70.0% |
|
Blacks (Haratin)
|
1,400 |
40.0% |
|
Whites
|
1,000 |
30.0% |
Berbers
|
20 |
0.6% |
|
Lamtuna
|
20 |
0.6% |
Blacks
|
1,000 |
30.0% |
|
Wolof
|
190 |
5.6% |
|
Fulani
|
150 |
4.5% |
|
Soninke
|
N/A |
N/A |
|
Mande
|
N/A |
N/A |
Imraguen
|
15 |
0.4% |
Mauritanian man.
|
The Mauritanian population is very complex. The main division line runs between Blacks and Moors, but among the Moors a large part have dark complexions. White Moors are referred to as bidan. Moors are a mix of Arab and Berber origins. Black Moors have their ancestry in Sudan.
Black Moors have, and in many areas they still do, represented the lower class. They have been divided into 2 groups: abid, slaves and haratin, freed slaves.
Other groups in Mauritania are the Tukolor, living in the Senegal River valley; Fulani dispersed all over the south; Soninke in the extreme south; Wolof who live around the city of Rosso.
About 47% of the population are registered as urban, 51% rural and 2% are nomads. But it must be underlined that cities of Mauritania in most cases are little developed, and is best compared to more densely rural areas in Western countries.
The Berber population listed here, the Lamtuna, represents a few problems of categorization. First, the figures given are merely a rough estimate, second, although they are Berbers, they make a claim on being an original tribe of Yemen. This claim can neither be confirmed nor disproved from available historical sources.
Statistics
The actual composition of ethnic groups in Mauritania is actually not very well known, it is generally referred to routinely by "40% black Moors, 30% white Moors and 30% blacks". This representation appears not to be wrong, but with respect to the 30% blacks, there is much insecurity. Out of 1 million in total, the individual groups add up to only half a million. Still, it seems more likely that the individual groups are larger, not that the 1 million in total is wrong.
© Copyright 1996-2009 LookLex Ltd. All rights reserved
By: Tore Kjeilen
|
|
|
