Mauretania

Mauretania , ancient district of Africa in Roman times. In a vague sense it meant only "the land of the Moors" and lay W of Numidia, but more specifically it usually included most of present-day N Morocco and W Algeria. The district was not the same as modern Mauritania. It was a complex of native tribal units, but by the 2d cent. BC when Jugurtha of Numidia was rebelling against Rome, Jugurtha's father-in-law, Bocchus, had most of Mauretania under his control. The Roman influence became paramount, and Augustus, having met opposition in restoring Juba II (see under Juba I ) to the throne of Numidia, placed him instead (25 BC) as ruler of Mauretania. Revolts later occurred, and Mauretania was subdued (AD 41-AD 42); Emperor Claudius I made it into two provinces—Mauretania Caesariensis, with Caesarea (modern Cherchel) as capital, and Mauretania Tingitana, with Tingis (modern Tangier) as capital. Roman influence was never complete, and native chieftains remained powerful. With the onset of the barbarian invasions, Roman control weakened, and by the end of the 5th cent. AD it had disappeared.

Mauretania A western African republic which came under French influence after 1900. It became part of French West Africa in 1920, though heavy Arab resistance to French colonial rule was not suppressed until 1934. A French Overseas Territory since 1946, it received autonomy within the French Community in 1958, and was granted independence on 28 November 1960. It was then governed by the Parti du Peuple Mauritanien (PPM, Mauretanian People's Party) under President Mokhtar Ould Daddah (b. 1924). In 1976 it occupied the southern half of Western Sahara, with Morocco occupying the north. However, its limited resources were overstretched by the costs of the occupation, during which the size of its army increased tenfold. Its fragile economy ground to a halt, weakened further by attacks from the West Saharan guerrilla movement, POLISARIO. Mauretanian forces were compelled to withdraw from Western Sahara in 1979, though their retreat was also partly precipitated by a military coup which had deposed Daddah in 1978.

After a period of political uncertainty, power passed to Maaonya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya (b. 1945) in 1984. He managed to stabilize the political system, but failed to reduce the ethnic tensions characterizing Mauretanian society since colonial times, between a well-educated Black minority and an underprivileged majority of Moors (a Muslim people of north-west Africa). Sporadic violence erupted, and in 1990 a group of Black Mauretanians staged an abortive coup against the government. As many as 100,000 Black Mauretanians (5 per cent of the population) fled into neighbouring Senegal that year. The President introduced a constitution in 1991 and elections in 1992. These were boycotted by the opposition parties, and Maaonya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was confirmed as President. During the 1990s Mauretania's relations to its neighbours, especially Senegal, worsened, and in 1999 the government announced its intention to withdraw from ECOWAS. In 2002 Mauretania became the sixth country to qualify for debt relief under the HIPC Initiative.