1939-1960 History of North Africa





Mauritania Independent, since 1960



In 1958, Mauritania became an autonomous republic, in 1960 full independence was declared. The country, hitherto administrated from ST. LOUIS (in Senegal), got a new capital at NOUAKCHOTT. In 1961, MAKTHAR OULD DADDAH was elected president. In 1965, he proclaimed a ONE-PARTY-STATE.
In 1966 Mauritania withdrew from the French Community (i.e. the country loosened it's ties to motherland France); in 1973, Mauritania joined the Arab League, replaced the African Franc by the OUGOUIYA. The SAHEL DROUGHT greatly reduced the country's livestock. In 1976 Spain withdrew from the Western Sahara, which subsequently was split up between Mauritania and Morocco. The Saharan POLOSARIO liberation front, aided by Morocco's archrival Algeria, fought a guerilla war. President Daddah was ousted in 1978; in 1979 Mauritania withdrew from it's sector of the Sahara (which then was also occupied by Moroccans).
Further coups occurred in 1980 and 1984. A conflict between the Maure and the negro settlers on the north bank of the Senegal River resulted in riots and atrocities on both sides of the border, in the mutual expulsion of each other's citizens and in the breakoff of diplomatic relations. In 1991, multiparty democracy was introduced; incumbent president MAAOUIYA OULD SIDI AHMED TAYA (since 1984) was reelected in 1993 and 1997.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Mauritania, History of, from Infoplease
Mauritania - History, from Encyclopedia of the Orient
History of Mauritania, from Islam in Africa
Mauretanien-Info, from Afrika Handbuch, posted by Univ. Vienna, in German; has brief account of modern economic history
Attempts to Establish an Islamic Economy: A Survey on Zakat in some Nineteenth-Century Muslim States of the Bilad as-Sudan, by Holger Weiss
CASCON Case MOM : Morocco-Mauritania 1957-1970, by L.P. Bloomfield, L. Moulton
CASCON Case WES : Western Sahara 1973-, by L.P. Bloomfield, L. Moulton
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Mauritania, by Ben Cahoon
Flag, from FOTW
Map from CIA World Factbook
Banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money Historical Population Statistics : Mauritania, from Population Statistics at Univ. Utrecht
REFERENCE Article : Mauritania, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1961 p.424, 1962 p.423, 1963 pp.545-546, 1964 pp.534-535, 1965 p.519, 1966 p.492, 1967 p.503, 1968 pp.502-503, 1969 p.488, 1970 p.492, 1971 pp.475-476, 1972 p.448, 1973 pp.445-446, 1974 p.448, 1975 pp.478-479, 1976 pp.506-507, 1977 pp.506-507, 1978 p.538, 1979 p.525, 1980 pp.525-526, 1981 pp.529-530, 1982 p.529, 1983 p.522, 1984 p.520, 1985 pp.469-470, 736, 1986 pp.463-464, 734, 1987 pp.432, 702, 1988 pp.393, 654, 1989 pp.393, 655, 1990 pp.410, 670, 1991 pp.389, 654, 1992 pp.361-362, 656, 1993 pp.365, 667, 1994 pp.363, 668, 1995 pp.443, 667, 1996 pp.441, 667, 1997 pp.452, 665, 2002 pp.463-464, 672 [G]
Article : Mauritania, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.946-947, 1975-1976 pp.1144-1145, 1976-1977 pp.1144-1145, 1978-1979 pp.835-836, 1979-1980 pp.839-840, 1980-1981 pp.843-845, 1981-1982 pp.847-849, 1983-1984 pp.839-841, 1984-1985 pp.839-841, 1985-1986 pp.841-843, 1986-1987 pp.840-842, 1987-1988 pp.844-846, 1988-1989 pp.846-848, 1989-1990 pp.855-857, 1990-1991 pp.856-858, 1991-1992 pp.857-859, 1992-1993 pp.942-944, 1993-1994 pp.940-943, 1994-1995 pp.937-940, 1995-1996 pp.934-937, 1996-1997 pp.883-886, 1997-1998 pp.892-895, 1998-1999 pp.957-960, 2000 pp.1091-1095, 2001 pp.1066-1069, 2002 pp.1110-1114, 2003 pp.1110-1114, 2004 pp.1116-1119, 2005 pp.1123-1126, 2006 pp.1126-1130 [G]
Article : Mauretania, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.80-81, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.80-81, 4th ed. 1984 pp.80-81 [G]
Entry : Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Cabinet, pp.66-67; Background Notes, pp.885-888, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Article : Mauritania, in : Americana Annual 1961 pp.454-455, 1962 p.463, 1963 pp.415-416, 1964 p.415, 1965 p.444, 1967 pp.433-434, 1968 p.431, 1969 pp.439-440, 1970 pp.435-436, 1971 p.440, 1972 p.439, 1973 p.440 [G]
Entry : Mauritania, pp.708-711 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on April 10th 2007

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