Mauritania

A society at the crossroads of the North African Maghreb and West Africa, Mauritania has a long tradition of syncretism, both religious and political. As such, the development of Mauritania’s media has witnessed a range of influences. The country’s population of approximately 4 million inhabitants is divided into three major ethnic groups: the Bidhan or Sahrawi, the Haratin, and Black West Africans. Mauritania is almost exclusively Sunni Muslim, with a tiny Roman Catholic population. Hassaniya Arabic, emanating from the Bani Hassan tribes, is the primary language, with Berber and French being widely spoken alongside smaller numbers of people speaking West African Pulaar, Soninke, and Wolof languages. This entry provides an overview of media in Mauritania during and since the colonial era. The entry concludes by ...