The history of Western Sahara can be traced back to the times of Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator in the 5th century BC. Though few historical records are left from that period, Western Sahara's modern history has its roots linked to some nomadic groups such as the Sanhaja group, and the introduction of Islam and the Arabic language at the end of the 8th century AD.
All data about demographic information regarding Western Sahara is extremely error prone, regardless of source. Most countries take censuses every ten years, and some every five in order to stay abreast of change and miscounts; the last count was conducted in 1970, and even that data by colonial Spain is considered unreliable due to large nomadic populations.
Beni Ḥassan is a nomadic group of Arabian origin, one of the four sub-tribes of the Maqil Arab tribes who emigrated in the 10th century to the Maghreb with the Bani Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes.
Hassānīya is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs and the Sahrawi. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of Mauritania and Morocco's southeastern and Western Sahara between the 15th and 17th centuries. Hassaniya Arabic was the language spoken in the pre-modern region around Chinguetti.
The Sahrawi, or Saharawi people, are an ethnic group and nation native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and the extreme southwest of Algeria.
The people of Western Sahara speak the Ḥassānīya dialect of Arabic, also spoken in northern Mauritania, and Spanish. They are of mixed Arab-Berber descent, but many consider themselves Arab. They claim that they descend from the Beni Hassan, an Arab tribe, who invaded the Western Saharan desert in the 14th century. The Sahrawis are Muslims of the Sunni sect and the Maliki law school. Their interpretation of Islam has traditionally being quite liberal and adapted to nomad life.
The Sanhaja were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Many tribes in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia and Western Sahara bore and still carry this ethnonym, especially in its Berber form. Other names for the population include Zenaga, Znaga, Sanhája, Sanhâdja and Senhaja.
The Imraguen, or Imeraguen, are an ethnic group or tribe of Mauritania and Western Sahara. They were estimated at around 5,000 individuals in the 1970s. Most members of the group live in fishing villages in the Banc d'Arguin National Park, located on the Atlantic coast of Mauritania.
The Bafour or Bafur are a group of people inhabiting Mauritania and Western Sahara. Their origins most likely ultimately lie in the Mandé peoples, only to later be absorbed by groups such as the Wolof, Serer, Fulani, or Tuareg. Scholars such as H.T. Norris describe "Bafur (Bafour)" as a loose term to encompass the pre-Sanhaja peoples, who were "part Berber, part Negro, and part Semite." And others describe them as Mandé agriculturalists who inhabited the area prior to the arrival of the Berbers. Others say they occupied these territories in the 15th century and, before the end of the 17th century, and were comprised by various groups, including the Wolof, Berber and Fula.
Haratin, also referred to as Haratine, Harratin or Hartani, are a North African ethnic group native to western Sahel and southwestern Maghreb. The Haratin are mostly found in modern Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara, and Algeria. In Tunisia and Libya, they are referred to as Chouachin, Chouachine, or Chouchan.
The Reguibat is a Sahrawi tribe of Arab origins, founded by the Islamic leader Sidi Ahmed Reguibi.The Reguibat speak Hassaniya Arabic. They are descended from Sidi Ahmed Rguibi, who lived in the Saguia el-Hamra region in the 16th century. They are a chorfa tribe, i.e. descendants of Muhammad. Religiously, they belong to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam.
The Oulad Delim is a Sahrawi tribe of mainly Arab origins. They were formerly considered of Hassane status i.e. part of the ruling warrior stratum. The Oulad Delim speak Hassaniya Arabic. They traditionally live in the southern regions of Western Sahara, especially around the city of Dakhla. They have extensive tribal connections with northern Mauritanian tribes. They are Muslims, adhering to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam.
The Tajakant is a Sahrawi tribe of Berber Sanhaja origins. They speak Hassaniya Arabic.
The Hassane is a name for the traditionally dominant warrior tribes of the Sahrawi-Moorish areas of present-day Mauritania, southern Morocco and Western Sahara. Although lines were blurred by intermarriage and tribal re-affiliation, the Hassane were considered descendants of the Arab Maqil tribe Beni Hassan. They held power over Sanhadja Berber-descended zawiya (religious) and znaga (servant) tribes, extracting from these the horma tax in exchange for armed protection.
The Oulad Tidrarin is a Sahrawi tribe of Arab origins, formerly considered to be of Ansar status. They speak Hassaniya Arabic. They are Muslims, belonging to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam. They live mainly in Western Sahara but also in Morocco and Mauritania.
"Greater Mauritania" is a term for the Mauritanian irredentist claim to Western Sahara, and possibly other Sahrawi-populated areas of the western Sahara desert.
The Emirate of Trarza was a precolonial state in what is today southwest Mauritania. It has survived as a traditional confederation of semi-nomadic peoples to the present day. Its name is shared with the modern Region of Trarza. The population, a mixture of Berber tribes, had been there for a long time before being conquered in the 11th century by Hassaniya Arabic speakers from the north. Europeans later called these people Moors/Maures, and thus have titled this group "the Trarza Moors".
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.
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign state in Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest. Mauritania is the eleventh largest country in Africa, and 90 percent of its territory is situated in the Sahara. Most of its population of 4.4 million lives in the temperate south of the country, with roughly one third concentrated in the capital and largest city, Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast.
The Hilalian dialects are a continuum of Arabic dialects of the Maghreb, which were introduced during the Hilalian invasions between the 11th and 12th centuries, as well as the migration of Arab Hilalian tribes to the Western Maghreb. These dialects played a great role in the emergence of the Egyptian and Maghrebi dialects.
