Mauritania - Ethnic groups

Moors (Maures), the main ethnic group, constitute between three-fifths and four-fifths of the population. The Moors are a Caucasoid people of Berber and Arab stock, with some Negroid admixture. Other groups, all black, are the Tukulor, Sarakolé, Fulani (Fulbe), Wolof, and Bambara. The black population is found largely in southern Mauritania and in the cities. In the latter half of the 1990s, 40% of the total population was a Moor/black admixture; 30% was Moor; and 30% was all black. There were also small numbers of Europeans, mainly French and Spanish (the latter from the Canary Islands), and a small colony of Lebanese traders. Freed slaves or the descendants of freed slaves are known as haratin .