1.
Precolonial Mauritania
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Precolonial Mauritania, lying next to the Atlantic coast at the western edge of the Sahara Desert, received and assimilated into its complex society many waves of Saharan migrants and conquerors. Islamization took place gradually, much later than in the Sahel. From the 15th century, there was also limited European trading activity, there was French presence at the Senegal River from the 17th century, and by 1840, Senegal became a permanent French possession. The colonisation of Mauritania was an expansion of the area of French control over Senegal, the colonial period of Mauritania lasted for a mere two generations, from 1904 to 1960. The French authorities had difficulty in maintaining order in view of the numerous and they attempted to abolish slavery in 1905, but with very limited success. Mauritanian independence was granted in 1960, following a 1958 referendum under the French Fifth Republic, in the year 41 AD Suetonius Paullinus, afterwards Consul, was the first of the Romans who led an army across Mount Atlas. Romans did explorations toward this area and probably reached, with Suetonius Paulinus, from the 8th century through the 15th century, black kingdoms of the western Sudan, such as Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, and Songhai Empire, brought their political culture from the south. The divisive tendencies of the groups within Mauritanian society have always worked against the development of Mauritanian unity. The first external influence that tended to unify the country was Islam, the Islamization of Mauritania was a gradual process that spanned more than 500 years. Gradual Islamization was accompanied by a process of Arabization as well, during which the Berber masters of Mauritania lost power, from the 15th century to the 19th century, European contact with Mauritania was dominated by the trade for gum arabic. France created the boundaries of contemporary Mauritania and administered it until the independence in the 1960s, because extensive European contact began so late in the countrys history, the traditional social structure carried over into modern times with little change. French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery, and an end to interclan warfare, during the colonial period, the population remained nomadic, but many sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to trickle back into Mauritania. As the country gained independence in 1960, the capital city Nouakchott was founded at the site of a colonial village. The prehistory of the west Saharan region is not fully characterised and these sources indicate that during the millennia preceding the Christian Era, the Sahara was a more habitable region than it is today and supported a flourishing culture. In the area that is now Mauritania, the Bafour, a people, whose descendants may be the coastal Imraguen fishermen, were hunters, pastoralists. Valley cultivators, who may have been ancestors of the riverine Toucouleur and Wolof peoples. Tichitt Walata is the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in West Africa and it was built by the Soninke people and is thought to be the precursor of the Ghana empire, thought to have been built by Wolof people or Wolof-related ancestors. It was being settled around 2000 BCE, climatic changes, and perhaps overgrazing and overcultivation as well, led to a gradual desiccation of the Sahara and the southward movement of these peoples
2.
Colonial Mauritania
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The period from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries is the colonial period in Mauritania. Before the nineteenth century, the European powers in West Africa were interested only in trade, they attempted no important inland exploration. The European mercantile companies on the coast were charged with making the highest possible profit, four such French companies enjoyed an official French-government monopoly of the Senegal River trade from 1659 to 1798. Contact with the Maures and the inhabitants of the valley came about only in the course of trade. From the beginning, French influence, competing with traditional trading partners north and east of Mauritania, came through Senegal. In 1825 the new Emir of Trarza, Muhammad al Habib and this action, which French authorities viewed as a hostile threat, combined with the emirs efforts to sell gum arabic to the British, brought a strong French reaction. Although the Maures were able to lay siege to Saint-Louis, a large French expeditionary force defeated the emirs forces, the French concluded that to secure the continuing profitability of the gum arabic trade, they would have to forcibly occupy the northern bank of the Senegal River. Implementing this new policy was Louis Faidherbe, the French governor of Senegal from 1854 to 1861, by undertaking the governance of these Mauritanian settlements, French rulers directly challenged Maure claims of sovereignty. He then turned his attention to the amirates of Trarza and Brakna that had united against him, the Maures attacked Saint Louis in 1855 and almost succeeded in reclaiming the settlement, but they were repulsed and defeated a year later, north of the Senegal River. In addition to his ventures, Faidherbe sponsored an active program to undertake geographic studies. In 1859 and 1860, Faidherbe sponsored five expeditions, including one that mapped the Adrar, Faidherbes successors were content to maintain his gains and did not embark on further military ventures. French colonial policy at this time can best be characterized by the warning given by the Colonial Ministry to the governor of Senegal in the late 1870s, Let us not hear from you. With Frances virtual abandonment of Senegal, the relative calm created in the Chemama, the Maures resumed their traditional practices of internecine warfare and pillaging villages in the Chemama. In virtual control of the administration, the commercial companies of Saint-Louis sold arms to the Maures. Scientific expeditions into Mauritania became increasingly subject to attack, and their European leaders were killed or held for ransom, the obvious weakness of the French and their distraction with events elsewhere in the region emboldened the amirs to demand and secure the reinstatement of the coutume. At the beginning of the century, after 250 years of French presence in Mauritania. Though formally under the protection of the French, the Maures were as fiercely independent as ever, in 1901 the French government adopted a plan of peaceful penetration for the administrative organization of areas then under Maure suzerainty. The plans author was Xavier Coppolani, a Corsican brought up in Algeria, Coppolani set up a policy not only to divide, weaken, and pacify the Maures but also to protect them
3.
Mauritania
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Mauritania /mɔːrɪˈteɪniə/, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in the Maghreb region of western Africa. The country derives its name from the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, approximately 90% of Mauritanias land is within the Sahara and consequently the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is slightly higher. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast, the government was overthrown on 6 August 2008, in a military coup détat led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, about 20% of Mauritanians live on less than US$1.25 per day. Mauritania suffers from several human rights issues, including slavery, as at least 4% of the population are enslaved against their will, the Bafours were primarily agriculturalist, and among the first Saharan people to abandon their historically nomadic lifestyle. With the gradual desiccation of the Sahara, they headed south, many of the Berber tribes claimed Yemeni origins. There is little evidence to such claims, but a 2000 DNA study of Yemeni people suggested there might be some ancient connection between the peoples. Other peoples also migrated south past the Sahara to West Africa, in 1076, Moorish Islamic warrior monks attacked and conquered the large area of the ancient Ghana Empire. Over the next 500 years, Arabs overcame fierce resistance from the population to dominate Mauritania. The Char Bouba war was the final effort of the peoples to repel the Yemeni Maqil Arab invaders. 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 Berber-influenced Arabic dialect that derives its name from the Beni Hassan, berbers retained a niche influence by producing the majority of the regions marabouts, those who preserve and teach Islamic tradition. Imperial France gradually absorbed the territories of present-day Mauritania from the Senegal River area and upwards, in 1901, Xavier Coppolani took charge of the imperial mission. Through a combination of strategic alliances with Zawiya tribes, and military pressure on the Hassane warrior nomads, he managed to extend French rule over the Mauritanian emirates. Trarza, Brakna and Tagant quickly submitted to treaties with the colonial power, Adrar was finally defeated militarily in 1912, and incorporated into the territory of Mauritania, which had been drawn up and planned in 1904. Mauritania was part of French West Africa from 1920, French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery and an end to inter-clan warfare. During the colonial period, 90% of the population remained nomadic, many sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to trickle back into Mauritania. After gaining independence, larger numbers of indigenous Sub-Saharan African peoples entered Mauritania, educated in French language and customs, many of these recent arrivals became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state
4.
Berbers
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Berbers or Amazighen are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. They are distributed in an area stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, historically, they spoke Berber languages, which together form the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. The majority of Berbers are predominantly Sunni Muslim, the Berber identity is usually wider than language and ethnicity, and encompasses the entire history and geography of North Africa. Berbers are not an entirely homogeneous ethnicity and they encompass a range of phenotypes, societies and ancestries, the unifying forces for the Berber people may be their shared language, or a collective identification with Berber heritage and history. There are some twenty-five to thirty million Berber speakers in North Africa, the number of ethnic Berbers is far greater, as a large part of the Berbers have acquired other languages over the course of many decades or centuries, and no longer speak Berber today. The majority of North Africas population is believed to be Berber in origin, Berbers call themselves some variant of the word i-Mazigh-en, possibly meaning free people or noble men. The name likely had its ancient parallel in the Roman and Greek names for Berbers, dihya or Kahina was a religious and military leader who led a fierce Berber resistance against the Arab-Muslim expansion in Northwest Africa. Kusaila was a leader of the Awraba tribe of the Berber people. A history by a Roman consul in Africa made the first reference of the barbarian to describe Numidia. The use of the term Berber spread in the following the arrival of the Vandals during their major invasions. The English term was introduced in the 19th century, replacing the earlier Barbary, for the historian Abraham Isaac Laredo the name Amazigh could be derived from the name of the ancestor Mezeg which is the translation of biblical ancestor Dedan son of Sheba in the Targum. According to Leo Africanus, Amazigh meant free man, though this has been disputed, further, it also has a cognate in the Tuareg word Amajegh, meaning noble. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines mentioned various tribes with similar names living in Greater Libya in the areas where Berbers were later found, later tribal names differ from the classical sources, but are probably still related to the modern Amazigh. The Meshwesh tribe among them represents the first thus identified from the field, all those names are similar and perhaps foreign renditions of the name used by the Berbers in general for themselves, Imazighen. The Maghreb region in northwestern Africa is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers from at least 10,000 BC, local cave paintings, which have been dated to twelve millennia before present, have been found in the Tassili nAjjer region of southern Algeria. Other rock art has been observed in Tadrart Acacus in the Libyan desert, a Neolithic society, marked by domestication and subsistence agriculture, developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean region of northern Africa between 6000 and 2000 BC. This type of life, richly depicted in the Tassili nAjjer cave paintings of southeastern Algeria, prehistorical Tifinagh scripts were also found in the Oran region. During the pre-Roman era, several independent states existed before the king Masinissa unified the people of Numidia
5.
Mauretania
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Mauretania is the Latin name for an area of the ancient Maghreb stretching from central Algeria westwards to the atlantic, covering northern Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, seminomadic pastoralists of Berber stock, were known to the Romans as the Mauri, in the late 3rd century, another province, Mauretania Sitifensis, was formed out of the eastern part of Caesariensis. When the Vandals arrived in Africa in 429, much of Mauretania became virtually independent, christianity had spread rapidly there in the 4th and 5th centuries but was extinguished when the Arabs conquered the region in the 7th century. Mauretania existed as a kingdom of the Mauri people. Mauri is recorded as the name by Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii, the Mauri would later bequeath their name to the Moors on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, from at least the 3rd century BC. King Atlas was a king of Mauretania credited with the invention of the celestial globe. The first known king of the Mauri is Baga, who ruled during the Second Punic War. The Mauri were in contact with Numidia. Bocchus I was father-in-law to the redoubted Numidian king Jugurtha, Mauretania became a client kingdom of the Roman Empire in 33 BC. The Romans installed Juba II of Numidia as their client-king, when Juba died in AD23, his Roman-educated son Ptolemy of Mauretania succeeded him. The Emperor Caligula had Ptolemy executed in 40, Emperor Claudius annexed Mauretania directly as a Roman province in 44, under an imperial governor. Mauretania Caesariensis was named after its capital Caesarea and comprised western, Mauretania gave the empire one emperor, the equestrian Macrinus. He seized power after the assassination of Caracalla in 217, but was defeated and executed by Elagabalus the next year. Emperor Diocletians Tetrarchy reform further divided the area into three provinces, as the small, easternmost region of Sitifensis was split off from Mauretania Caesariensis, followed by Columnatensis, Vidensis, inferioris, Fortensis, Muticitani, Audiensis, Caputcellensis and Augustensis. A Praeses in the province of Mauretania Sitifensis, direct Roman rule became confined to a few coastal cities by the late 3rd century. In an inscription from Altava in western Algeria, one of these rulers, Masuna, Altava was later the capital of another ruler, Garmul or Garmules, who resisted Byzantine rule in Africa but was finally defeated in 578. The Byzantine historian Procopius also mentions another independent ruler, Mastigas, in the VII century there were eight Romano-Moorish kingdoms, Altava, Ouarsenis, Hodna, Aures, Nemenchas, Capsa, Dorsale and Cabaon
6.
Mauri people
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Mauri was the Latin designation for the Berber population of Mauretania. It was located in the part of Africa west of Numidia, Mauri is recorded by Strabo, who wrote in the early 1st century, as the native name, which was also adopted into Latin, while he cites the Greek name for the same people as Maurusii. In 44 AD, the Roman Empire incorporated the region as the province of Mauretania, later divided into Mauretania Caesariensis, the area around Carthage was already part of the Africa province. Roman rule was effective enough so that these provinces became integrated into the empire, the Baetis is the modern Guadalquivir, so this poem implies Mauri raiding into Baetica in the first century CE. Mauri from the mountains beyond the border of the Roman Empire crossed the straits of Gibraltar to raid into the Roman province of Baetica, Mauri raided Baetica again in the late 170s or 180s in the reign of Commodus. At that time they besieged the town of Singilia Barba, which was freed from the siege by the arrival of Roman troops from the province of Mauretania Tingitana, by the early Christian era, the byname Mauritius identified anyone originating in Africa, roughly corresponding to Berber populations. Two prominent Mauritian churchmen were Tertullian and St. Augustine, the 3rd-century Christian saint Mauritius, in whose honour the given name Maurice originated, was from Egypt. When Aurelian marched against Zenobia in 272, his army included Moorish cavalry, the Notitia Dignitatum mentions Roman cavalry units called Equites Mauri, or Moorish cavalry. Many Mauri were enlisted in the Roman army and were known as members of the comitatus. By the time of Diocletian, Moorish cavalry were no part of the mobile field army. There was one regiment of Equites Mauri in each of the six provinces from Mesopotamia to Arabia, the Mauri were part of a larger group called Equites Illyricani, indicating previous service in Illyricum. While many Mauri were part of the Roman empire, others resisted Roman rule, Diocletians co-emperor Maximian campaigned against the Mauri for two years in the late 290s. This may be the reason why the border legions of north Africa were reinforced in Diocletians time with seven new legions spread through Tingitania, Tripolitania, Africa, Numidia, in the 370s, Mauri raided the Roman towns of North Africa. Theodosius the Elder campaigned against them in 372, a Moorish tribe called the Austoriani are specified as participating in these raids. Theodosius defeated the rebellion, but was executed shortly thereafter in Carthage, Firmus brother Gildo, also a Moorish chieftain, joined the Romans and helped defeat Firmus revolt. As a reward, he was given the post of magister utriusque militiae per Africam, or master of foot soldiers, in 397 he broke his allegiance to the Western Empire, then under the control of the child emperor Honorius and his master of soldiers Stilicho. Gildo withheld the corn ships from Rome and declared allegiance to Stilichos enemy Eutropius in Constantinople, Eutropius sent encouragement but no troops or money. The Roman Senate declared Gildo a public enemy, Gildo had another brother called Mascezel
7.
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
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The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim military expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 AD. It was at point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years. The Byzantine navy would be defeated in the eastern Mediterranean, beginning in the 12th century, scholars at Kairouan began to construct a new version of the history of the conquest, which was finalised by ar-Raqiq. This version was copied in its entirety, and sometimes interpolated, by authors, reaching its zenith in the 14th century with scholars such as Ibn Idhari, Ibn Khaldun. It differs from the earlier version not only in the greater detail and this, however, is the best-known version and is the one given below. There is ongoing regarding the relative merits of the two versions. For more information, refer to the works cited below by Brunschvig, Modéran and Benabbès, the first invasion of North Africa, ordered by Caliph Umar, commenced in 647. 20,000 Arabs marched from Medina in Arabia, another 20,000 joined them in Memphis, Egypt, Count Gregory, the local Byzantine governor, had declared his independence from the Byzantine Empire in North Africa. He gathered his allies, confronted the Islamic invasion force and suffered defeat at the Battle of Sufetula, with the death of Gregory his successor, probably Gennadius, secured the Arab withdrawal in exchange for tribute. The campaign lasted fifteen months and Abdallahs force returned to Egypt in 648, all further Muslim conquests were soon interrupted, however, by a civil war between rival Arab factions that resulted in the murder of Caliph Uthman in 656. He was replaced by Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who in turn was murdered in 661 and he put a governor in place in Egypt at al-Fustat, creating a subordinate seat of power that would continue for the next two centuries. He then continued the invasion of neighbouring states, attacking Sicily. In 664 Kabul, Afghanistan, fell to the invading Muslim armies, the years 665 to 689 saw a new Arab invasion of North Africa. It began, according to Will Durant, to protect Egypt from flank attack by Byzantine Cyrene. So an army of more than 40,000 Muslims advanced through the desert to Barca, took it, next came a force of 10,000 Arabs led by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi and enlarged by thousands of others. Departing from Damascus, the army marched into North Africa and took the vanguard, in 670 the city of Kairouan was established as a refuge and base for further operations. This would become the capital of the Islamic province of Ifriqiya, which would cover the regions of todays western Libya, Tunisia. In his conquest of the Maghreb he besieged the city of Bugia as well as Tingi or Tangier
8.
Islamization of the Sudan region
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The Islamization of the Sudan region encompasses a prolonged period of religious conversion, through military conquest and trade relations, spanning the 8th to 16th centuries. The aftermath of religious incursion and sectarian conflict remains a source of ongoing tension throughout the Sahel states, much of this contact was motivated by interest in trans-Saharan trade, particularly the slave trade. The proliferation of Islamic influence was largely a gradual process, the Christian kingdoms of Nubia were the first to experience Arab incursion starting in the 7th century. They held out through the Middle Ages until the Kingdom of Makuria and they were also responsible for setting up zawiyas on the shores of the River Niger. The Sanusi order was highly involved in missionary work during the 19th century, the Mali Empire underwent a period of internally motivated conversion following the 1324 pilgrimage of Musa I of Mali. Timbuktu subsequently became one of the most important Islamic cultural centers south of the Sahara, alodia, the last holdout of Christian Nubia, was destroyed by the Funj in 1504. Consequently, much of contemporary Sudan is Muslim and this includes the Republic of Sudan, the northern parts of Chad and Niger, most of Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. Contacts between Nubians and Arabs long predated the coming of Islam, but the Arabization of the Nile Valley was a process that occurred over a period of nearly one thousand years. Arab nomads continually wandered into the region in search of fresh pasturage, intermarriage and assimilation also facilitated Arabization. This treaty was known as the Treaty of Baqt, so long as Arabs ruled Egypt, there was peace on the Nubian frontier, however, when non-Arabs, the Mamluks for example, acquired control of the Nile Delta, tension arose in Upper Egypt. The Arabs realized the advantages of peaceful relations with Nubia and used the Baqt to ensure that travel. The Baqt also contained security arrangements whereby both parties agreed that neither would come to the defense of the other in the event of an attack by a third party. The Baqt obliged both to exchange annual tribute as a symbol, the Nubians sent slaves and the Arabs sent grain. This formality was only a token of the trade that developed between the two. Arab merchants established markets in Nubian towns to facilitate the exchange of grain, Arab engineers supervised the operation of mines east of the Nile in which they used slave labor to extract gold and emeralds. Muslim pilgrims en route to Mecca traveled across the Red Sea on ferries from Aydhab and Suakin, traditional genealogies trace the ancestry of most of the Nile Valleys mixed population to Arab tribes that migrated into the region during this period. Even many non-Arabic-speaking groups claim descent from Arab forebears, the two most important Arabic-speaking groups to emerge in Nubia were the Jaalin and the Juhayna. Both showed physical continuity with the indigenous pre-Islamic population, the former claimed descent from the Quraysh, the Prophet Muhammads tribe. Historically, the Jaali have been involved in the trade, making up an important subsection of the nomadic, slave trading jallaba
9.
Arab slave trade
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The Arab slave trade was the practice of slavery in the Arab world, mainly in Western Asia, North Africa, Southeast Africa, the Horn of Africa and Europe. This barter occurred chiefly between the era and the early 21st century. The trade was conducted through slave markets in areas, with the slaves captured mostly from Africas interior. These traders captured Bantu peoples from the interior in present-day Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania, there, the slaves gradually assimilated in the rural areas, particularly on the Unguja and Pemba islands. The captives were sold throughout the Middle East and this trade accelerated as superior ships led to more trade and greater demand for labour on plantations in the region. Eventually, tens of thousands of captives were being taken every year, the Indian Ocean slave trade was multi-directional and changed over time. Slave labor in East Africa was drawn from the Zanj, Bantu peoples that lived along the East African coast, the Zanj were for centuries shipped as slaves by Arab traders to all the countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs recruited many Zanj slaves as soldiers and, as early as 696 and it grew to involve over 500,000 slaves and free men who were imported from across the Muslim empire and claimed over tens of thousands of lives in lower Iraq. The Zanj who were taken as slaves to the Middle East were often used in agricultural work. As the plantation economy boomed and the Arabs became richer, agriculture, the resulting labor shortage led to an increased slave market. To 5°S. to which the name was also applied, wealthy proprietors had received extensive grants of tidal land on the condition that they would make it arable. Sugar cane was prominent among the products of their plantations, particularly in Khūzestān Province, Zanj also worked the salt mines of Mesopotamia, especially around Basra. Their jobs were to clear away the topsoil that made the land arable. The working conditions were considered to be extremely harsh and miserable. Many other people were imported into the region, besides Zanj, historian M. A. Shaban has argued that rebellion was not a slave revolt, but a revolt of blacks. In his opinion, although a few runaway slaves did join the revolt, if the revolt had been led by slaves, they would have lacked the necessary resources to combat the Abbasid government for as long as they did. These slaves were captured mainly from seaside villages from Italy, Spain, Portugal and also more distant places like France or England. They were also taken from ships stopped by the pirates, the effects of these attacks were devastating, France, England, and Spain each lost thousands of ships
10.
Colonialism
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Colonialism is the establishment of a colony in one territory by a political power from another territory, and the subsequent maintenance, expansion, and exploitation of that colony. The term is used to describe a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and the indigenous peoples. The European colonial period was the era from the 16th century to the century when several European powers established colonies in Asia, Africa. At first the countries followed a policy of mercantilism, designed to strengthen the economy at the expense of rivals. By the mid-19th century, however, the powerful British Empire gave up mercantilism and trade restrictions and introduced the principle of free trade, collins English Dictionary defines colonialism as the policy and practice of a power in extending control over weaker peoples or areas. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers four definitions, including something characteristic of a colony, in the book, Osterhammel asks, How can colonialism be defined independently from colony. He settles on a definition, Colonialism is a relationship between an indigenous majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions affecting the lives of the people are made. Rejecting cultural compromises with the population, the colonizers are convinced of their own superiority. Historians often distinguish between two overlapping forms of colonialism, Settler colonialism involves large-scale immigration, often motivated by religious, political, exploitation colonialism involves fewer colonists and focuses on access to resources for export, typically to the metropole. Surrogate colonialism involves a settlement project supported by a colonial power, internal colonialism is a notion of uneven structural power between areas of a state. The source of exploitation comes from within the state, as colonialism often played out in pre-populated areas, sociocultural evolution included the formation of various ethnically hybrid populations. In fact, everywhere where colonial powers established a consistent and continued presence, notable examples in Asia include the Anglo-Burmese, Anglo-Indian, Burgher, Eurasian Singaporean, Filipino mestizo, Kristang and Macanese peoples. In the Dutch East Indies the vast majority of Dutch settlers were in fact Eurasians known as Indo-Europeans, the Other, or othering is the process of creating a separate entity to persons or groups who are labelled as different or non-normal due to the repetition of characteristics. Othering is the creation from those who discriminate, to distinguish, label, several scholars in recent decades developed the notion of the other as an epistemological concept in social theory. For example, postcolonial scholars, believed that colonizing powers explained an ‘other’ who were there to dominate, civilize, political geographers explain how colonial/ imperial powers othered places they wanted to dominate to legalize their exploitation of the land. During the rise of colonialism and after, post colonialism, the Western powers perspectives of the East as the other, different and this viewpoint and separation of culture had divided the Eastern and Western culture creating a dominant/ subordinate dynamic, both being the other towards themselves. The word metropole comes from the Greek metropolis —mother city, the word colony comes from the Latin colonia—a place for agriculture
11.
French West Africa
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French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa, Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Dahomey and Niger. The capital of the federation was Dakar, the federation existed from 1895 until 1960. Until after the Second World War almost all the Africans living in the colonies of France were not citizens of France, rather, they were French Subjects, lacking rights before the law, property ownership rights, rights to travel, dissent, or vote. Anyone able to prove they were born in these towns was legally French and they could vote in parliamentary elections, which had been previously dominated by white and Métis residents of Senegal. The Four Communes of Senegal were entitled to elect a Deputy to represent them in the French Parliament in the years 1848–1852, 1871–1876, in 1914, the first African, Blaise Diagne, was elected as the Deputy for Senegal in the French Parliament. In 1916, Diagne pushed through the National Assembly a law granting citizenship to all residents of the so-called Four Communes. In return, he had promised to help millions of Africans to fight in World War I. Thereafter, all black Africans of Dakar, Gorée, Saint-Louis and these conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers, and dubbed Military Territories. The first Governor General of Senegal was named in 1895, and in 1904, Gabon would later become the seat of its own federation French Equatorial Africa, which was to border its western neighbor on the modern boundary between Niger and Chad. While the latter fell to Free France already after the Battle of Gabon in November 1940, following World War II, the French government began a process of extending limited political rights in its colonies. In 1945 the French Provisional Government allocated ten seats to French West Africa in the new Constituent Assembly called to write a new French Constitution, of these five would be elected by citizens and five by African subjects. The elections brought to prominence a new generation of French-educated Africans and they were all re-elected to the 2nd Constituent Assembly on 2 June 1946. In 1946, the Loi Lamine Guèye granted some limited rights to natives of the African colonies. The French Empire was renamed the French Union on 27 October 1946, in late 1946 under this new constitution each territory was for the first time able elect local representatives, albeit on a limited franchise, to newly established General Councils. These elected bodies had only limited powers, although they did approve local budgets. The Loi Cadre of 23 June 1956 brought universal suffrage to elections held after that date in all French African colonies, the first elections under universal suffrage in French West Africa were the municipal elections of late 1956. On 31 March 1957, under universal suffrage, territorial Assembly elections were held in each of the eight colonies, the leaders of the winning parties were appointed to the newly instituted positions of Vice-Presidents of the respective Governing Councils — French Colonial Governors remained as Presidents. The Constitution of the French Fifth Republic of 1958 again changed the structure of the colonies from the French Union to the French Community, each territory was to become a Protectorate, with the consultative assembly named a National Assembly
12.
Western Sahara
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Its surface area amounts to 266,000 square kilometres. It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, the population is estimated at just over 500,000, of which nearly 40% live in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara. Occupied by Spain until the late 20th century, Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963 after a Moroccan demand and it is the most populous territory on that list, and by far the largest in area. In 1965, the UN General Assembly adopted its first resolution on Western Sahara, one year later, a new resolution was passed by the General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain on self-determination. In 1975, Spain relinquished the control of the territory to a joint administration by Morocco. A war erupted between those countries and a Sahrawi nationalist movement, the Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic with a government in exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew its claims in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured de facto control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the representative of the Sahrawi people. As of 2017, no member state of the United Nations has ever recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. However, a number of countries have expressed their support for a recognition of the Moroccan annexation of the territory as an autonomous part of the Kingdom. Overall, the annexation has not garnered as much attention in the community as many other disputed annexations. Internationally, countries such as Russia have taken a generally ambiguous and neutral position on each sides claims, both Morocco and Polisario have sought to boost their claims by accumulating formal recognition, essentially from African, Asian, and Latin American states in the developing world. The Polisario Front has won recognition for SADR from 37 states. Morocco has won recognition or support for its position from several African governments and from most of the Muslim world, in both instances, recognitions have, over the past two decades, been extended and withdrawn according to changing international trends. Western Sahara is located in Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and it also borders Algeria to the northeast. The land is some of the most arid and inhospitable on the planet, the land along the coast is low, flat desert and rises, especially in the north, to small mountains reaching up to 600 metres on the eastern side. While the area can experience flash flooding in the spring, there are no permanent streams, at times a cool off-shore current can produce fog and heavy dew. The earliest known inhabitants of Western Sahara were the Gaetuli, depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or the Gaetulian Daradae tribes
13.
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
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Maaouya Ould SidAhmed Taya is a Mauritanian military officer who served as the president of Mauritania from 1984 to 2005. He was ousted by a coup in 2005. Prior to his presidency, he held the position as the 5th Prime Minister of Mauritania, born in the town of Atar, Ould Taya attended a Franco-Arabic Primary School from 1949 to 1955. He then attended Rosso High School in southern Mauritania, after graduation, he attended a French military school in 1960 and graduated as an officer the next year. In 1975, he received training at the French War Academy. In 1978 the Mauritanian army seized power and ousted President Moktar Ould Daddah, Ould Taya was among the conspirators, and quickly gained influence within the government. After holding various positions in the military, Ould Taya was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army in January 1981, during the rule of military head of state Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla. In the aftermath of a coup against Ould Haidalla in March 1981, Ould Taya was appointed Prime Minister on 25 April 1981. He held this office until 8 March 1984, when Ould Haidalla, on 12 December 1984, while Ould Haidalla was out of the country, Ould Taya seized power and declared himself Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation. President Ould Taya freed all prisoners and dissolved ALHYAKEL and sought from his arrival the establishment of a nation of law and he organized the first election in the nation’s 26 years of existence in 1986. Ould Tayas regime began a transition to civilian, multiparty government in 1991, the first multiparty presidential elections were held in January 1992. Ould Taya, candidate of the newly formed Democratic and Social Republican Party, received nearly 63% of the vote amid opposition claims of serious irregularities, under Ould Taya, discrimination against the Afro-Mauritanian population became more pronounced. Thousands were forced to flee to Senegal and Mali, in the armed forces and the civil service, human rights abuses were common and many were killed. The last years of Ould Tayas rule were marred by unrest within the military, Ould Tayas harsh response to the religious opposition triggered criticisms from abroad. Ould Taya also moved away from his support of the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein at the time of the 1991 Gulf War, in late 1999, Mauritania established full diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming only the third Arab country to do so. In doing so, he had at some point formally ended a war on Israel that dated from the 1967 Six-Day War. Ould Tayas close ties with Israel and the United States served to deepen the opposition to his rule, on 7 November 2003 a presidential election was held, which was won by Ould Taya with over 67% of the vote. In late September, the government claimed to have thwarted yet another plot to oust Ould Taya, while Ould Taya was out of the country for the funeral of Saudi king Fahd in early August 2005, soldiers seized government buildings and the state media
14.
Military of Mauritania
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The Armed Forces of Mauritania is the defence force of Mauritania, having an army, navy, air force, gendarmerie, and presidential guard. Other services include the national guard and national police, though both are subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior. As of 2010, the Mauritanian armed forces budget was 5. 5% of the countrys GDP, the military forces of Mauritania are listed by the IISS Military Balance 2007 as comprising 15,870 personnel with an additional 5,000 paramilitaries, in the national gendarmerie. The Navy has 620 personnel and 10 patrol and coastal combatants, with bases at Nouadhibou, the CIA reports that the navy includes naval infantry. The small Air Force has 250 personnel,2 FTB-337 aircraft,15 transport aircraft of various types, the 5,000 paramilitaries are divided in the National Gendarmerie, and the National Guard who both report to the Ministry of the Interior. Other paramilitary services reported by the CIA in 2001 include the National Police, saleh Ould Hanenna, a former army major, led the attempted 2003 Mauritanian coup détat in June 2003. It aimed to overthrow President Maaouya Ould Taya and he commanded a rebel section of the Army during two days of heavy fighting in Nouakchott. With the failure of the coup Hanenna initially escaped capture, and formed a group called the Knights of Change with Mohamed Ould Cheikhna, but he was arrested on October 9,2004. General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a soldier and high-ranking officer, was a leading figure in the 2005 Mauritanian coup détat that deposed President Maaouya Ould SidAhmed Taya. In August 2008 General Ould Abdel Aziz led the 2008 Mauritanian coup détat that toppled President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, following the latter coup, Abdel Aziz became President of the High Council of State as part of what was described as a political transition leading to a new election. He resigned from that post in April 2009 in order to stand as a candidate in the July 2009 presidential election and he was sworn in on 5 August 2009. In March 1985, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported the army was 8,300 strong with no reserves, the army was organised into the six regions which each supervised several companies, though there was one small autonomous infantry battalion stationed in Nouakchott. The Mauritanian military is involved in Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara. Previous U. S. anti-terrorist engagement included training under the Pan Sahel Initiative, the Air Force School was recently created in Atar. It was founded to train pilots, mechanics, other crewmen for the Air Force, more recent procurements have been from China in the form of the Harbin Y-12 II turboprop transports were delivered in September 1995, one crashed in April 1996. A second one crashed on July 12,2012, the Xian Y7-100C was delivered from October 1997, which crashed in May 1998. The Mauritanian Navy was created on January 25,1966, after the extension of Mauritanias territorial waters from 12 to 30 nautical miles, by 1972 the navy had one small patrol gunboat and two small patrol craft that performed port control and customs duties. In 1987 the navy had thirteen boats, of these boats, only eight were seaworthy, and the navy could send only two vessels out to open water at a time
15.
Military Council for Justice and Democracy
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The Military Council for Justice and Democracy was the supreme political body of Mauritania. It served as the interim government following the coup détat which ousted the President. It was led by the director of the national police force. After seizing power it quickly pledged to hold elections within two years, and promised that none of its own members would run. A few days after seizing power, Vall named Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar as Prime Minister following the resignation of Tayas last Prime Minister, a presidential election took place in March 2007 and the new President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was sworn in on April 19,2007. Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Chairman Col. Abderrahmane Ould Boubacar Col. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Col. Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Col. Ahmed Ould Bekrine Col. Sogho Alassane Dr. -Col. Ghoulam Ould Mohamed Col. Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Alem Col. Negri Felix Col. Mohamed Ould Meguett Col. Mohamed Ould Mohamed Znagui Dr. -Col, Military Committee for National Salvation - Military government 1979-92. High Council of State - Military government 2008-09, Mauritania army says to rule country for 2 years – Reuters Oil wealth triggers army coup – Times Online
16.
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
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Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is the President of Mauritania, in office since 2009. Following the 2008 coup, Abdel Aziz became President of the High Council of State as part of what was described as a transition leading to a new election. He resigned from that post in April 2009 in order to stand as a candidate in the July 2009 presidential election and he was sworn in on 5 August 2009. Abdel Aziz also served as the Chairman of the African Union from 2014 to 2015, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was born in Akjoujt on 20 December 1956. He joined the Royal Military Academy of Meknes, Morocco in 1977 and, after a string of promotions and he played a key role in suppressing an attempted coup in June 2003 and a military uprising in August 2004. He received Mauritanias highest military award for his role in stopping the 2004 uprising, colonel Abdel Aziz was said at the time to be one of the main actors in the actual carrying out of this coup. At the time, Abdel Aziz was described by a Western academic as a leader of a Mauritanian Nasserist group, pan-Arab secular nationalists. Contrary to this, the Mauritanian press credited Abdel Aziz for pushing to reduce military rule from 24 to 19 months, on 30 August 2007, President Abdallahi named Abdel Aziz his Presidential Chief of Staff. Abdel Aziz, now a General, continued to work closely with the President, General Abdel Aziz was also commander of the forces sent to apprehend Group for Preaching and Combat militants who had killed four French tourists at Aleg in December 2007. A May 2008 article contrasted Abdel Azizs continuing involvement at the centre of power with Ely Ould Mohamed Vall. Abdel Aziz remained both advisor to the President and General, and was described as being at the nexus of a galaxy of other colonels, businessmen and politicians. A conflict with the President was clearly growing in June 2008, the first announcement of the State Council was to annul this decree. By 9,20 local time, BASEP troops seized the President, Prime Minister, Mauritania television was taken off the air earlier, but Arabia-based al-Arabiya television played an announcement said to be from the new junta. In these he stated that his actions were legal, a response to oppression by the previous government. He did not rule out running in the elections, however. Abdel Azizs initial list of names for the High Council of State included five civilians, by the end of the same day, this list had been revised, without public explanation, to include all military figures. At that demonstration, marchers already carried life size photographs of Abdel Aziz in military uniform, the Council stated that Abdel Aziz had the power to appoint the prime minister, military officials and civil servants in Mauritania. The United States has consistently issued press releases from the Department of State condemning the coup d’état as illegal and unconstitutional
17.
Mauritanian presidential election, 2009
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A presidential election was held in Mauritania on 18 July 2009. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who led the 2008 coup détat, won a narrow majority in the election. A second round, if necessary, would have held on 1 August 2009. Following the coup which deposed President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi on 6 August 2008, the election was subsequently scheduled for 6 June 2009. Abdel Aziz, who was President of the High Council of State, the opposition initially planned to boycott the election, arguing that the junta pursued a unilateral electoral agenda, and as a result Abdel Aziz was widely expected to win the election. On 15 September 2008, the National Assembly adopted plans to free and fair elections within 12–14 months. The chosen date of 6 June 2009 was announced by the media on 23 January 2009. Abdel Aziz announced that he would run in the election on 29 March 2009, as was widely expected, on 8 April, Abdel Aziz told France 24 that he intended to resign prior to 22 April, as necessary for him to stand as a candidate. He also said that the election would be held as planned on 6 June, according to Abdel Aziz, the election was desired by 90% of the population. Later on 8 April, members of the pro-Abdallahi National Front for the Defense of Democracy, including the President of the National Assembly, Massaoud Ould Boulkheir, held a protest in Nouakchott. Boulkheir denounced the electoral agenda of the putschists and warned that neither tanks. The announcement of a new commission, headed by Cheikh Saadbouh Camara. Opposition parties announced they would boycott the election, Sarr said that the conditions are there for a free poll and that Mauritania did not have democracy under Abdallahis presidency. Kane Hamidou Baba, Vice-President of the National Assembly and Vice-President of the RFD, also sought to stand as a candidate, due to Babas friendly attitude towards the junta, he was expelled from the FNDD coalition. Another candidate was Sghair Ould MBareck, who served as Prime Minister under President Maaouya Ould SidAhmed Taya from 2003 to 2005, Abdel Aziz resigned on 15 April 2009 and was succeeded by Ba Mamadou Mbaré as Acting President. The Constitutional Court approved four candidacies on 27 April, those of Abdel Aziz, Ibrahima Sarr, Kane Hamidou Baba, all of these candidates were sympathetic to the coup. The Union for the Republic political party elected Abdel Aziz as its President at the constituent assembly on 5 May 2009. Wade also met separately with Abdallahi and Daddah, Daddah said at a press conference on 26 May that there could be no talks unless the junta agreed to release political prisoners and suspend the electoral timetable
18.
Sahara
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The Sahara is the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its area of 9,200,000 square kilometres is comparable to the area of the United States. The desert comprises much of North Africa, excluding the fertile region on the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south, it is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of tropical savanna around the Niger River valley. The Sahara can be divided into several regions including, the western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains, the Ténéré desert, the name Sahara is derived from ṣaḥārā, the plural of the Arabic word for desert. The Sahara covers large parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and it covers 9 million square kilometres, amounting to 31% of Africa. If all areas with an annual precipitation of less than 250 mm were included. It is one of three physiographic provinces of the African massive physiographic division. The Sahara is mainly rocky hamada, Ergs form only a minor part, wind or rare rainfall shape the desert features, sand dunes, dune fields, sand seas, stone plateaus, gravel plains, dry valleys, dry lakes, and salt flats. Unusual landforms include the Richat Structure in Mauritania, several deeply dissected mountains, many volcanic, rise from the desert, including the Aïr Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Saharan Atlas, Tibesti Mountains, Adrar des Iforas, and the Red Sea hills. The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi, a volcano in the Tibesti range of northern Chad. The central Sahara is hyperarid, with sparse vegetation, the northern and southern reaches of the desert, along with the highlands, have areas of sparse grassland and desert shrub, with trees and taller shrubs in wadis, where moisture collects. In the central, hyperarid region, there are subdivisions of the great desert, Tanezrouft, the Ténéré, the Libyan Desert, the Eastern Desert. These extremely arid areas often receive no rain for years, the northern limit also corresponds to the 100 mm isohyet of annual precipitation. To the south, the Sahara is bounded by the Sahel, the southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha, or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel. According to climatic criteria, the limit of the Sahara corresponds to the 150 mm isohyet of annual precipitation. The Sahara is the worlds largest low-latitude hot desert and this steady descending airflow causes a warming and a drying effect in the upper troposphere
19.
Classical antiquity
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It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and Southwestern Asia. Conventionally, it is taken to begin with the earliest-recorded Epic Greek poetry of Homer, and continues through the emergence of Christianity and it ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity, blending into the Early Middle Ages. Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many disparate cultures, Classical antiquity may refer also to an idealised vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poes words, the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome. The culture of the ancient Greeks, together with influences from the ancient Near East, was the basis of art, philosophy, society. The earliest period of classical antiquity takes place before the background of gradual re-appearance of historical sources following the Bronze Age collapse, the 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely proto-historical, with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing in the first half of the 8th century. Homer is usually assumed to have lived in the 8th or 7th century BC, in the same period falls the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games, in 776 BC. The Phoenicians originally expanded from Canaan ports, by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean, carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in Sicily, Italy and Sardinia, which created conflicts of interest with Etruria. The Etruscans had established control in the region by the late 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic. According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21,753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus and Remus. As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines. Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid-8th century BC, the seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus. As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and the son-in-law of Servius Tullius, Superbus was of Etruscan birth and it was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock, the people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of Lucretia, a patrician Roman, at the hands of his own son. Lucretias kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus, summoned the Senate and had Superbus, after Superbus expulsion, the Senate voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government in 509 BC. In fact the Latin word Rex meaning King became a dirty and hated throughout the Republic. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias, cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras. Greece entered the 4th century under Spartan hegemony, but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Athens, Argos, Thebes and Corinth, the two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BC
20.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
21.
European exploration of Africa
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The geography of North Africa has been reasonably well known among Europeans since classical antiquity in Greco-Roman geography. Northwest Africa was known as either Libya or Africa, while Egypt was considered part of Asia, at the beginning of the 19th century, European knowledge of geography of the interior of Sub-Saharan Africa was still rather limited. It was left for 19th-century European explorers to flesh more detail such as the geological makeup. The Phoenicians explored North Africa, establishing a number of colonies, Carthage itself conducted exploration of West Africa. The first circumnavigation of the African continent was made by Phoenician sailors, in an expedition commissioned by Egyptian pharaoh Necho II, in c.600 BC. A report of this expedition is provided by Herodotus and they sailed south, rounded the Cape heading west, made their way north to the Mediterranean and then returned home. He states that they paused each year to sow and harvest grain, some commentators took this circumstance as proof that the voyage is historical, but other scholars still dismiss the report as unlikely. The West African coast was explored by Hanno the Navigator in an expedition in c.500 BC, the report of this voyage survives in a short Periplus in Greek, which was first cited by Greek authors in the 3rd century BC. There is some uncertainty as to how far precisely Hanno reached, he sailed as far as Sierra Leone. Africa is named for the Afri people who settled in the area of current-day Tunisia, the Africa Province of the Roman Empire spanned the Mediterranean coast of what is now Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. The parts of North Africa north of the Sahara were well known in antiquity, prior to the 2nd century BC, however, Greek geographers were unaware that the land mass then known as Libya expanded south of the Sahara, assuming that the desert bounded on the outer Ocean. Indeed, Alexander the Great, according to Plutarchus Lives, considered sailing from the mouths of the Indus back to Macedonia passing south of Africa as a shortcut compared to the land route. Even Eratosthenes around 200 BC still assumed an extent of the landmass no further south than the Horn of Africa, by the Roman imperial period the Horn of Africa was well-known to Mediterranean geographers. The trading post of Rhapta, described as the last marketplace of Azania, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, dated to the 1st century AD, appears to extend geographical knowledge further south, to Southeast Africa. It was at Mozambique that the Arab clockwise and the Portuguese counter-clockwise routes of exploration would meet at the end of the 15th century. Following its 8th-century conquest of North Africa, Arab Muslims ventured into Sub-Saharan Africa first along the Nile Valley towards Nubia and they were interested in the trans-Saharan trade, especially in slaves. This expansion of Arab and Islamic culture was a gradual process, the Christian kingdoms of Nubia came under pressure from the 7th century, but they resisted for several centuries. The Kingdom of Makuria and Old Dongola collapsed by the beginning of the 14th century, on the West African coast, they set up zawiyas on the shores of the River Niger
22.
Adrar Plateau
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The Adrar is a highland natural and historical region of the Sahara Desert in northern Mauritania. The Adrar Region, a division of Mauritania, is named after the traditional region. It is sometimes called Adrar Tamar to distinguish it from other areas called Adrar in the Sahara, the Adrar is an arid plateau, known for its gorges, regs and shifting sand dunes. Nearby is also the famous Richat Structure, structurally the Adrar is a low central massif which rises to 260m above sea level with conspicuous cliffs. There is no water in the area of the plateau and cultivation is not possible. Notable features include the Richat Structure, an eroded dome approximately 40 km across. The Adrar region is home to a human population, centered on the town of Atar. The ancient town of Ouadane, formerly an important caravan and gold-trading centre, is located on the edge of the Adrar. Chinguetti is another important historical town in the region, the Adrar was settled in the Neolithic era as shown by cave and rock paintings found in the area. The more recent aridification has left much of the intact, most notable several stone circles, e. g. Atar Stone Circle. Beginning in the century, migrants from the Adrar Plateau region moved into the Tagant Plateau. Geography of Mauritania UNESCO, Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata The Adrar - Lonely Planet
23.
Akjoujt
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Akjoujt is a small city in western Mauritania. It is the capital of Inchiri region. Akjoujt means wells, the citys main industry is gold and copper mining. Archeologists have discovered that as early as 1000 BC, copper smelting and mining was occurring in Akjoujt, in 1992 the citys old copper mine was repurposed into a gold mine. The company, Mines dOr dAkjoujt, which was government-subsidized, was using many volatile and dangerous chemicals in the mines, the runoff from the mine was stored in a plastic-lined retention pond and was very close to the citys water supply. Despite warnings that the rainfall in the area could cause the material to spread. MORAK, in order to boost support, offered free drinking water and placed fences around the facility, the Mauritanian government allegedly suppressed information regarding the mines safety issues and MORAK fired employees who reported health problems. The director of health in Akjoujt was transferred to Nouakchott after he suggested health screenings for miners, the gold mine closed in 1996. As of 2011, the Mauritanian government was planning to expand and rehabilitate the water system in Akjoujt and several other cities. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is a native of Akjoujt, summers in Akjoujt are extremely hot, with temperatures reaching up to 50.0 degrees Celsius. Akjoujt is twinned with, Meram, Konya Province, Turkey
24.
Sudan
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Sudan, also known as North Sudan since South Sudans independence and officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northern Africa. It is the third largest country in Africa, the River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Before the Sudanese Civil War, South Sudan was part of Sudan, Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë and others, most of which flourished along the Nile. During the pre-dynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were identical, by virtue of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 15th. As a result of Christianization, the Old Nubian language stands as the oldest recorded Nilo-Saharan language, Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. Sudan is now the third largest country in Africa and also the third largest country in the Arab world and its capital is Khartoum, the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. It is a representative democratic federal republic. The politics of Sudan are regulated by an organization called the National Assembly. The Sudanese legal system is based on Islamic law, the countrys place name Sudan is a name given to a geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to eastern Central Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān, or the lands of the Blacks, during the fifth millennium BC migrations from the drying Sahara brought neolithic people into the Nile Valley along with agriculture. The population that resulted from this cultural and genetic mixing developed social hierarchy over the centuries become the Kingdom of Kush at 1700 BC. The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient Nubian state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile, and the Atbarah River and it was established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, centered at Napata in its early phase. After King Kashta invaded Egypt in the eighth century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt for a century before being defeated and driven out by the Assyrians. At the height of their glory, the Kushites conquered an empire that stretched from what is now known as South Kordofan all the way to the Sinai, pharaoh Piye attempted to expand the empire into the Near East, but was thwarted by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sennacheribs successor Esarhaddon went further, and invaded Egypt itself, deposing Taharqa, Taharqa fled back to his homeland where he died two years later. Egypt became an Assyrian colony, however, king Tantamani, after succeeding Taharqa, Esarhaddon died while preparing to leave the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in order to eject him. However, his successor Ashurbanipal sent an army into southern Egypt and routed Tantamani. During Classical Antiquity, the Nubian capital was at Meroë, in ancient Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia
25.
Sanhaja
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The Sanhaja were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Many tribes in Morocco and Mauritania bore and still carry this ethnonym, other names for the population include Zenaga, Veledi Sanhája, Znaga, Sanhája, Sanhâdja and Senhaja. After the arrival of Islam, the Sanhâdja spread out to the borders of the Sudan as far as the Senegal River, from the 9th century, Sanhaja tribes were established in the Middle Atlas range, in the Rif Mountains and on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. A part of the Sanhaja, such as the Kutâma, settled in central/eastern Algeria and they played an important part in the rise of the Fatimids. The Sanhaja dynasties of the Zirids and Hammâdids controlled Ifriqiya until the 12th century, in the mid-11th century, a group of Sanhadja chieftains returning from the Hâjj invited the theologian Ibn Yâssin to preach among their tribes. Ibn Yasin united the tribes in the alliance of the Almoravids in the middle of the 11th century and this confederacy subsequently established Morocco, and conquered western Algeria and Al-Andalus. The Znaga or Zenaga tribes would remain in roles as either exploited semi-sedentary agriculturalists and fishermen, or, higher up on the social ladder, the descendants of the Sanhaja are still found today in the Middle Atlas mountains and eastern Morocco. The Zenaga, a group believed to be of Gudala origin, inhabit southwestern Mauritania, however, they are a small population. Background to Conflict, Barnes & Noble Books
26.
Almoravid dynasty
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The Almoravid dynasty was a Berber imperial dynasty of Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that stretched over the western Maghreb, founded by Abdallah ibn Yasin, the Almoravid capital was Marrakesh, a city they founded in 1062. The dynasty originated among the Lamtuna and the Gudala, nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara and this enabled them to control an empire that stretched 3,000 kilometers north to south. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived, the Almoravids fell—at the height of their power—when they failed to quell the Masmuda-led rebellion initiated by Ibn Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishaq ibn Ali was killed in Marrakesh in April 1147 by the Almohad Caliphate, who replaced them as a ruling dynasty both in Morocco and Al-Andalus. The term Almoravid comes from the Arabic al-Murabitun, which is the form of al-Murabit—literally meaning one who is tying. The term is related to the notion of Ribat, a frontier monastery-fortress, another theory states that the name Almoravid comes from a school of Malikite law called Dar al-Murabitin founded in Sus al-Aksa, modern day Morocco, by a certain scholar named Waggag Ibn Zallu. Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar, hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God. It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation, al-Bakri, writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them the al-Murabitun, but does not clarify the reasons for it. Ibn Idhari wrote that the name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the persevering in the fight sense,1054, in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, the name might be related to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu, where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. Contemporaries frequently referred to them as the al-mulathimun, the Almoravids veiled themselves below the eyes with a tagelmust, a custom they adapted from southern Sanhaja Berbers. Although practical for the desert dust, the Almoravids insisted on wearing the veil everywhere, as a badge of foreignness in urban settings and it served as the uniform of the Almoravids. Under their rule, sumptuary laws forbade anybody else from wearing the veil, in turn, the succeeding Almohads made a point of mocking the Almoravid veil as symbolic of effeminacy and decadence. The western Sanhaja had been converted to Islam some time in the 9th century and they were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of neophyte converts, launched several campaigns against the Sudanese. Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected the citadel of Awdaghust, after the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdagust passed over to the Ghana empire, and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmassa. The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous, around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat, tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years. Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, a chieftain of the Gudala, on his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya, where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi, a native of Fes and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school
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Ghana Empire
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The Ghana Empire, properly known as Awkar was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. By the time of the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century the camel had changed the ancient more irregular trade routes into a trade running from Morocco to the Niger river. The Ghana Empire grew rich from this increased trade in gold. It furthermore encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the different trade-routes, when Ghanas ruling dynasty began is uncertain, it as mentioned for the first time in written records by Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 830. In the 11th century the Cordoban scholar Abu Ubayd al-Bakri collected stories from a number of travelers to the region, and gave a detailed description of the kingdom. He claimed that the Ghana could put 200,000 men into the field, more than 40,000 of them archers, as the empire declined it was finally made a vassal to the rising Mali Empire at some point in the 13th century. The origins of Ghana have often been obscured by fights between ethno-historic accounts and interpretations and archaeology, the earliest discussions of its origins are found in the Sudanese chronicles of Mahmud Kati and Abd al-Rahman as-Sadi. In addressing the origin, the Tarikh al-Fettash provides three different opinions, one that they were Black, another that they were Wangara, which are a Soninke group. Al-Kati favored another interpretation in view of the fact that their genealogies linked them to this group and he says that 22 kings ruled before the Hijra and 22 after. While these early views lead to many interpretations of a foreign origin of Wagadu. In addition, the archaeologist and historian Raymond Mauny argues that al-Katis and al-Sadis view of a foreign origin cannot be regarded as reliable, modern scholars, particularly African Muslim scholars, have argued about the extension of the Ghana Empire and tenure of its reign. Islamic religion was very well around the Asian-African-European area. Several such traditions were recorded and published, while there are variants, these traditions called the most ancient polity they knew of Wagadu, or the place of the Wago the term current in the nineteenth century for the local nobility. Upon Dingas death, his two sons Khine and Dyabe contested the kingship, and Dyabe was victorious, founding the kingdom. While Delafosse produced a theory of an invasion by Judeo-Syrians. Raymond Mauny, synthesizing early archaeology, various traditions, and the Arabic materials in 1961 concluded that trade was vital to the empires foundation. While there has not been much study of either traditions or documents, archaeologists have added considerable nuance to the ultimate play of forces. Archaeological research was slow to enter the picture, the Dar Tichitt site had clearly become a complex civilization by 1600 BCE and had architectural and material culture elements that seemed to match the site at Koumbi-Saleh
28.
Almohad Caliphate
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The Almohad Caliphate was a Moroccan Berber Muslim movement founded in the 12th century. The Almohad movement was founded by Ibn Tumart among the Berber Masmuda tribes of southern Morocco, around 1120, the Almohads first established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains. They succeeded in overthrowing the ruling Almoravid dynasty governing Morocco by 1147 and they then extended their power over all of the Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus followed the fate of North Africa and all Islamic Iberia was under Almohad rule by 1172, nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Cordova and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively. The Almohads continued to rule in Africa until the loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies. The Almohad movement originated with Ibn Tumart, a member of the Masmuda, at the time, Morocco, and much of the rest of North Africa and Spain, was under the rule of the Almoravids, a Sanhaja Berber dynasty. Early in his life, Ibn Tumart went to Spain to pursue his studies, in Baghdad, Ibn Tumart attached himself to the theological school of al-Ashari, and came under the influence of the teacher al-Ghazali. He soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters, Ibn Tumarts main principle was a strict unitarianism, which denied the independent existence of the attributes of God as being incompatible with His unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart represented a revolt against what he perceived as anthropomorphism in Muslim orthodoxy and his followers would become known as the al-Muwahhidun, meaning those who affirm the unity of God. After his return to the Maghreb c.1117, Ibn Tumart spent some time in various Ifriqiyan cities, preaching and agitating, heading riotous attacks on wine-shops and on other manifestations of laxity. He laid the blame for the latitude on the dynasty of the Almoravids. His antics and fiery preaching led fed-up authorities to him along from town to town. After being expelled from Bejaia, Ibn Tumart set up camp in Mellala, in the outskirts of the city, where he received his first disciples - notably, al-Bashir and Abd al-Mumin. In 1120, Ibn Tumart and his band of followers proceeded to Morocco, stopping first in Fez. He even went so far as to assault the sister of the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf, in the streets of Fez, because she was going about unveiled, after the manner of Berber women. After the debate, the scholars concluded that Ibn Tumarts views were blasphemous and the man dangerous, but the emir decided merely to expel him from the city. Ibn Tumart took refuge among his own people, the Hargha, in his village of Igiliz. He retreated to a cave, and lived out an ascetic lifestyle, coming out only to preach his program of puritan reform
29.
Gum arabic
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Gum arabic, also known as acacia gum, is a natural gum consisting of the hardened sap of various species of the acacia tree. Producers harvest the gum commercially from wild trees, mostly in Sudan and throughout the Sahel, from Senegal to Somalia—though it is cultivated in Arabia. Gum arabic is a mixture of glycoproteins and polysaccharides. It is the source of the sugars arabinose and ribose. Gum arabic is used primarily in the industry as a stabilizer. It is edible and has E number E414, while gum arabic is now produced throughout the African Sahel, it is still harvested and used in the Middle East. For example, Arab populations use the gum to make a chilled, sweetened. Gum arabics mixture of polysaccharides and glycoproteins gives it the properties of a glue, other substances have replaced it where toxicity is not an issue, and as the proportions of the various chemicals in gum arabic vary widely and make it unpredictable. Still, it remains an important ingredient in soft drink syrup, hard gummy candies such as gumdrops, marshmallows, for artists, it is the traditional binder in watercolor paint, in photography for gum printing, and it is used as a binder in pyrotechnic compositions. Pharmaceutical drugs and cosmetics also use the gum as a binder, emulsifying agent, wine makers have used gum arabic as a wine fining agent. It is an important ingredient in shoe polish, and can be used in making homemade incense cones and it is also used as a lickable adhesive, for example on postage stamps, envelopes, and cigarette papers. Lithographic printers employ it to keep the areas of the plate receptive to water. This treatment also helps to stop oxidation of aluminium printing plates in the interval between processing of the plate and its use on a printing press. Also called acacia after the source, gum arabic is used as an emulsifier. Gum arabic is used as a binder for watercolor painting because it easily in water. Pigment of any color is suspended within the gum in varying amounts. Water acts as a vehicle or a diluent to thin the watercolor paint, when all moisture evaporates, the acacia gum typically does not bind the pigment to the paper surface, but is totally absorbed by deeper layers. If little water is used, after evaporation the acacia gum functions as a binder in a paint film, increasing luminosity
30.
Moors
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Moors are not a distinct or self-defined people, and mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that The term Moors has no real ethnological value. Medieval and early modern Europeans variously applied the name to Arabs, Berber North Africans and Muslim Europeans. The term has also used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general, especially those of Arab or Berber descent. During the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names Ceylon Moors and Indian Moors in Sri Lanka, in 711, troops mostly formed by Moors from North Africa led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Iberian peninsula then came to be known in classical Arabic as Al-Andalus, in 827, the Moors occupied Mazara on Sicily, developing it as a port. They eventually consolidated the rest of the island and some of southern Italy, in 1224 the Muslims were expelled from Sicily to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed by European Christians in 1300. The fall of Granada in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia, the Berber tribes of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as Moors in English and in related variations in other European languages. Mauri is recorded as the name by Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii, in medieval Romance languages, variations of the Latin word for the Moors developed different applications and connotations. During the context of the Crusades and the Reconquista, the term Moors included the suggestion of infidels. Apart from these associations and context, Moor and Moorish designate a specific ethnic group speaking Hassaniya Arabic. They inhabit Mauritania and parts of Algeria, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, in Niger and Mali, these peoples are also known as the Azawagh Arabs, after the Azawagh region of the Sahara. Some authors have pointed out that in modern colloquial Spanish use of the term moro is derogatory for Moroccans in particular, however, this designation has gained more acceptance in the south. In the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, many modern Filipinos call the large, local Muslim minority concentrated in Mindanao, the word is a catch-all term, as Moro may come from several distinct ethno-linguistic groups such as the Maranao people. The term was introduced by Spanish colonisers, and has since been appropriated by Filipino Muslims as an endonym, moreno can mean dark-skinned in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and the Philippines. Also in Spanish, morapio is a name for wine, especially that which has not been baptized or mixed with water. Among Spanish speakers, moro came to have a broader meaning, Moro refers to all things dark, as in Moor, moreno, etc. It was also used as a nickname, for instance, the Milanese Duke Ludovico Sforza was called Il Moro because of his dark complexion, in Portugal, mouro may refer to supernatural beings known as enchanted moura, where moor implies alien and non-Christian
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Senegal River
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The Senegal River is a 1,086 km long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania. The Senegals headwaters are the Semefé and Bafing rivers which originate in Guinea, they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali. From there, the Senegal river flows west and then north through Talari Gorges near Galougo and over the Gouina Falls, then more gently past Kayes. The Senegal further flows through semi-arid land in the north of Senegal, forming the border with Mauritania, in Kaedi it accepts the Gorgol from Mauritania. Flowing through Bogué it reaches Richard Toll where it is joined by the Ferlo coming from inland Senegals Lac de Guiers and it passes through Rosso and, approaching its mouth, around the Senegalese island on which the city of Saint-Louis is located, to then turn south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself. In between Manantali and Maka-Diama is the Félou Hydroelectric Plant which was completed in 1927 and uses a weir. The power station was replaced in 2014, in 2013, construction of the Gouina Hydroelectric Plant upstream of Felou at Gouina Falls began. The Senegal River has a basin of 270,000 km2, a mean flow of 680 m3/s. Important tributaries are the Falémé River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River, downstream of Kaédi the river divides into two branches. The left branch called the Doué runs parallel to the river to the north. After 200 km the two branches rejoin a few kilometres downstream of Pondor, the long strip of land between the two branches is called the Île á Morfil. In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal to manage the river basin, at the present time, only very limited use is made of the river for the transport of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel 55 m in width between the town of Ambidédi in Mali and Saint-Louis, a distance of 905 km. It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the Atlantic Ocean, although the species richness is moderately high, only three species of frogs and one fish are endemic to this ecoregion. The existence of the Senegal River was known to the early Mediterranean civilizations and it was called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BCE at his navigation from Carthage through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema in the Gulf of Guinea. There was trade from here to the Mediterranean World, until the destruction of Carthage, in the Early Middle Ages, the Senegal River restored contact with the Mediterranean world with the establishment of the Trans-Saharan trade route between Morocco and the Ghana Empire
32.
Congress of Vienna
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The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off, the leaders were conservatives with little use for republicanism or revolution, both of which threatened to upset the status quo in Europe. France lost all its recent conquests, while Prussia, Austria and Russia made major territorial gains, Prussia added smaller German states in the west, Swedish Pomerania and 60% of the Kingdom of Saxony, Austria gained Venice and much of northern Italy. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands had been created just months before, the immediate background was Napoleonic Frances defeat and surrender in May 1814, which brought an end to twenty-five years of nearly continuous war. Negotiations continued despite the outbreak of fighting triggered by Napoleons dramatic return from exile, the Congresss Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. However, others praise it for having created relatively long-term stable, the Congress of Vienna settlement, despite later changes, formed the framework for European international politics until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Treaty of Chaumont in 1814 had reaffirmed decisions that had made already. The Treaty of Chaumont became the cornerstone of the European Alliance which formed the balance of power for decades, other partial settlements had already occurred at the Treaty of Paris between France and the Sixth Coalition, and the Treaty of Kiel which covered issues raised regarding Scandinavia. The Treaty of Paris had determined that a general congress should be held in Vienna, the opening was scheduled for July 1814. The Four Great Powers had previously formed the core of the Sixth Coalition, as the Congresss sessions were in Vienna, Emperor Francis was kept closely informed. Great Britain was represented first by its Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh, then by the Duke of Wellington, in the last weeks it was headed by the Earl of Clancarty, after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Tsar Alexander I controlled the Russian delegation which was led by the foreign minister. The tsar had two goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. He succeeded in forming the Holy Alliance, based on monarchism and anti-secularism, Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. King Frederick William III of Prussia was also in Vienna, playing his role behind the scenes, France, the fifth power, was represented by its foreign minister, Talleyrand as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the Treaty of Paris for Louis XVIII of France, Sweden – Count Carl Löwenhielm Denmark – Count Niels Rosenkrantz, foreign minister. King Frederick VI was also present in Vienna, the Netherlands – Earl of Clancarty, the British Ambassador at the Dutch court, and Baron Hans von Gagern Switzerland – Every canton had its own delegation. Charles Pictet de Rochemont from Geneva played a prominent role, mecklenburg-Schwerin – Leopold von Plessen Virtually every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna – more than 200 states and princely houses were represented at the Congress
33.
French colonial empire
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The French colonial empire constituted the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. The second empire came to an end after the loss of bitter wars in Vietnam and Algeria, competing with Spain, Portugal, the United Provinces, and later Britain, France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean, and India in the 17th century. A series of wars with Great Britain and other European major powers during the 18th century, France rebuilt a new empire mostly after 1850, concentrating chiefly in Africa, as well as Indochina and the South Pacific. Republicans, at first hostile to empire, only became supportive when Germany started to build her own colonial empire and it also provided manpower in the World Wars. It became a mission to lift the world up to French standards by bringing Christianity. In 1884 the leading proponent of colonialism, Jules Ferry declared, The higher races have a right over the lower races, full citizenship rights – assimilation – were offered, although in reality assimilation was always receding the colonial populations treated like subjects not citizens. At its apex, it was one of the largest empires in history, including metropolitan France, the total amount of land under French sovereignty reached 11,500,000 km2 in 1920, with a population of 110 million people in 1939. In World War II, Charles de Gaulle and the Free French used the colonies as bases from which they fought to liberate France. However, after 1945 anti-colonial movements began to challenge European authority, the French constitution of October 27,1946, established the French Union which endured until 1958. Newer remnants of the empire were integrated into France as overseas departments. These now total altogether 119,394 km², which amounts to only 1% of the pre-1939 French colonial empires area, by the 1970s, says Robert Aldrich, the last vestiges of empire held little interest for the French. He argues, Except for the decolonization of Algeria, however. During the 16th century, the French colonization of the Americas began, the story of Frances colonial empire truly began on 27 July 1605, with the foundation of Port Royal in the colony of Acadia in North America, in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada. A few years later, in 1608, Samuel De Champlain founded Quebec, which was to become the capital of the enormous, New France had a rather small population, which resulted from more emphasis being placed on the fur trade rather than agricultural settlements. Due to this emphasis, the French relied heavily on creating friendly contacts with the local First Nations community and these became the most enduring alliances between the French and the First Nation community. The French were, however, under pressure from religious orders to them to Catholicism. Through alliances with various Native American tribes, the French were able to exert a loose control over much of the North American continent, areas of French settlement were generally limited to the St. Lawrence River Valley. Prior to the establishment of the 1663 Sovereign Council, the territories of New France were developed as mercantile colonies
34.
Senegal
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Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal also borders The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegals economic and political capital is Dakar and it is the westernmost country in the mainland of the Old World, or Afro-Eurasia, and owes its name to the Senegal River, which borders it to the east and north. The name Senegal comes from the Wolof Sunuu Gaal, which means Our Boat, Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of about 15 million. The climate is Sahelian, but there is a rainy season, the territory of modern Senegal has been inhabited by various ethnic groups since prehistory. Organized kingdoms emerged around the century, and parts of the country were ruled by prominent regional empires such as the Jolof Empire. The present state of Senegal has its roots in European colonialism, which began during the mid-15th century, the establishment of coastal trading posts gradually led to control of the mainland, culminating in French rule of the area by the 19th century, albeit amid much local resistance. Senegal peacefully attained independence from France in 1960, and has since been among the politically stable countries in Africa. Senegals economy is centered mostly on commodities and natural resources, major industries are fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials, and ship construction and repair. As in most African nations, agriculture is a sector, with Senegal producing several important cash crops, including peanuts, sugarcane, cotton, green beans, tomatoes, melons. Owing to its stability, tourism and hospitality are also burgeoning sectors. A multiethnic and secular nation, Senegal is predominantly Sunni Muslim with Sufi, French is the official language, although many native languages are spoken and recognized. Since April 2012 Senegals president has been Macky Sall, Senegal has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie since 1970. Senegal is named after the Senegal River, the etymology of which is contested, one popular theory is that it stems from the Wolof phrase sunu gaal, which means our canoe, resulting from a miscommunication between 15th-century Portuguese sailors and Wolof fishermen. The our canoe theory has been embraced in modern Senegal for its charm. It is frequently used in appeals to national solidarity, frequently heard in the media, modern historians believe the name probably refers to the Sanhaja, Berbers who lived on the northern side of the river. A competing theory is that it derives from the town of Sanghana
35.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
36.
Decentralization
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Decentralization is the process of redistributing or dispersing functions, powers, people or things away from a central location or authority. While centralization, especially in the sphere, is widely studied and practiced. The meaning of decentralization may vary in part because of the different ways it is applied, the word centralization came into use in France in 1794 as the post-French Revolution French Directory leadership created a new government structure. The word decentralization came into usage in the 1820s, centralization entered written English in the first third of the 1800s, mentions of decentralization also first appear during those years. In the mid-1800s Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that the French Revolution began with a push towards decentralization. in the end, pierre-Joseph Proudhon, influential anarchist theorist wrote, All my economic ideas as developed over twenty-five years can be summed up in the words, agricultural-industrial federation. All my political ideas boil down to a formula, political federation or decentralization. In early twentieth century America a response to the centralization of economic wealth and it blamed large-scale industrial production for destroying middle class shop keepers and small manufacturers and promoted increased property ownership and a return to small scale living. The decentralist movement attracted Southern Agrarians like Robert Penn Warren, as well as journalist Herbert Agar, hatfield, Mildred J. Loomis and Bill Kauffman. In the next few years a number of best-selling books promoted decentralization. ”Alvin Toffler published Future Shock, naisbitt’s book outlines 10 “megatrends”, the fifth of which is from centralization to decentralization. In 1996 David Osborne and Ted Gaebler had a best selling book Reinventing Government proposing decentralist public administration theories which became labeled the New Public Management, stephen Cummings wrote that decentralization became a revolutionary megatrend in the 1980s. In 1983 Diana Conyers asked if decentralization was the latest fashion in development administration, Cornell Universitys project on Restructuring Local Government states that decentralization refers to the global trend of devolving responsibilities to regional or local governments. In 1983, Decentralization was identified as one of the Ten Key Values of the Green Movement in the United States, according to a 1999 United Nations Development Programme report, A large number of developing and transitional countries have embarked on some form of decentralization programmes. The movement toward local accountability and greater control over ones destiny is, however, not solely the result of the negative attitude towards central government. Rather, these developments, as we have noted, are principally being driven by a strong desire for greater participation of citizens and private sector organizations in governance. ”Those studying the goals and processes of implementing decentralization often use a systems theory approach. ”However. Norman Johnson of Los Alamos National Laboratory wrote in a 1999 paper, an important property of agent systems is the degree of connectivity or connectedness between the agents, a measure global flow of information or influence. If each agent is connected to all agents, then the system is highly connected. Instead each party, also called a peer, makes local autonomous decisions towards its goals which may possibly conflict with those of other peers. Peers directly interact with other and share information or provide service to other peers
37.
Nationalism
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Nationalism is a complex, multidimensional concept involving a shared communal identification with ones nation. It is contrasted by Anti-nationalism as a political ideology oriented towards gaining and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, Nationalism therefore holds that a nation should govern itself, free from unwanted outside interference, and is linked to the concept of self-determination. Nationalism therefore seeks to preserve the nations culture and it often also involves a sense of pride in the nations achievements, and is closely linked to the concept of patriotism. In these terms, nationalism can be considered positive or negative, from a political or sociological outlook, there are three main paradigms for understanding the origins and basis of nationalism. The first, known as Primordialism or Perennialism, sees nationalism as a natural phenomenon and it holds that although the concept nationhood may be recent, nations have always existed. The third, and most dominant paradigm is Modernism, which sees nationalism as a recent phenomenon that needs the structural conditions of society in order to exist. There are various definitions for what constitutes a nation, however and this anomie results in a society or societies reinterpreting identity, retaining elements that are deemed acceptable and removing elements deemed unacceptable, in order to create a unified community. Nationalism means devotion for the nation and it is a sentiment that binds the people together. National symbols and flags, national anthems, national languages, national myths, Nationalism is a newer word, in English the term dates from 1844, although the concept is older. It became important in the 19th century, the term increasingly became negative in its connotations after 1914. Glenda Sluga notes that The twentieth century, a time of disillusionment with nationalism, was also the great age of globalism. Nationalism is the term used to characterize the modern sense of national political autonomy. For example, German nationalism emerged as a reaction against Napoleonic control of Germany as the Confederation of the Rhine around 1805–14, linda Colley in Britons, Forging the Nation 1707–1837 explores how the role of nationalism emerged about 1700 and developed in Britain reaching full form in the 1830s. The early emergence of a popular patriotic nationalism took place in the mid-18th century, National symbols, anthems, myths, flags and narratives were assiduously constructed by nationalists and widely adopted. The Union Jack was adopted in 1801 as the national one, Thomas Arne composed the patriotic song Rule, Britannia. in 1740, and the cartoonist John Arbuthnot invented the character of John Bull as the personification of the English national spirit in 1712. The political convulsions of the late 18th century associated with the American, the Prussian scholar Johann Gottfried Herder originated the term in 1772 in his Essay on the Origins of Language. Stressing the role of a common language, the political development of nationalism and the push for popular sovereignty culminated with the ethnic/national revolutions of Europe. During the 19th century nationalism became one of the most significant political and social forces in history, napoleons conquests of the German and Italian states around 1800–06 played a major role in stimulating nationalism and the demands for national unity
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Years in Mauritania (1960–present)