At midnight on November 28, 1960, under a tent in Nouakchott, to which the capital was recently moved, the chosen president announces the independence of Mauritania from French colonialism in the presence of foreign press delegations and a number of French and African personalities. Since then, Mauritania is considered a link between the Arab and African worlds.
The word “Mauritania” was not used to refer to the geographical area currently known as “Mauritania.” As for the original name, it was “الشنقيط بالد/Bilad alshanqit” (In English: The land of alshanqit) and the inhabitants were called “الشناقطة /alshanaqita”, but France named the country “Mauritania” when it colonized it at the beginning of the last century. I forgot to tell you why the words are in Arabic because the official language of the country is Arabic
The Mauritanian constitution stipulates the existence of four national languages, the first of which is Arabic (the official language of the country), along with the “Pularian” language, the “Millennium” language, and the “Sononic” language (African languages), but there is a fifth language that is not provided for in the constitution, which is the “Zanak” language (the Berber language), and this language is almost disappearing from the country.
The Parc National du Banc D’arguin, a UNESCO world heritage site. It is one of the largest bird sanctuaries and very popular amongst bird lovers all across the world. You can spot many migratory birds in the reserve. You can go birdwatching there. The Park comprises sand-dunes, coastal swamps, small islands, and shallow coastal waters. The contrast between the harsh desert
environment and the biodiversity of the marine zone has resulted in a land- and seascape of outstanding natural significance. A wide variety of migrating birds spends the winter there. Several species of sea turtle and dolphin, used by the fishermen to attract shoals of fish, can also be found. 9- “The Richat Structure”, an eye staring at you from space! It is a huge eye in the Mauritanian desert which is visible from space, and it ranks as one of the most incredible geological marvels of our world. Just imagine looking down on Earth from space and an eye is staring back at you. It is known that the diameter of this eye is around 40 km and it looks like a ‘bull’s eye’.
The exact reason for its creation is still unknown as while competing theories concerning its origins exist, the debate still rages among some scientists. Nature seems reluctant to yield its mysteries to mankind. Some evidence indicates that this astonishing Eye of the Sahara represents the remnants of a geologic dome that formed approximately 100 million years ago.
“Bay of Nouadhibou”, “The Graveyard of ships” The place where there are rusting hulks in every direction, and ships that were cheaper to illegally abandon in this harbor than to correctly dismantle.
The city of Nouadhibou is the second-largest city in Mauritania and serves as the country's commercial center. It is famous for being the location of one of the largest ship graveyards in the world. Hundreds of rusting ships can be seen all around, in the water, and on beaches. Various historical records cite that the port city became a vessel graveyard during the late 20th century. However, the idea of using the peninsula as a ship graveyard predates back to the days of the country’s French colonization during the 20s and peaked to substantial heights during the 80s.
In the past, there were several currencies circulating inside Mauritania. The Ouguiya is the only Arabic word among all the monetary conventions in Mauritania. All of the other terms are of European origin, so this authentic Arabic word was chosen as a name for the Mauritanian national currency.
You will learn in Mauritania to give more value and attention to the number five. Mauritania is one of only two countries in the world to not use a decimal currency! The other is Madagascar. The Ouguiya is the currency of Mauritania. Each ouguiya constitutes five Khoums. 6- As a Mauritanian kid, we can expect now that you should now have a rooster’s farm dependent on the number of teeth you've replaced so far. In Mauritania, when a child loses a tooth, their parents tell them to wrap up their tooth in a small piece of cloth and throw it as hard as they can onto the roof of their house. If they get up very early the next morning, they will find a rooster on the roof, and they can keep it. If they don't wake up early enough, they won't find the rooster.
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Today we meet with a country that was founded in the middle of the night under a tent in the desert
in 1960 and since then it's become the connecting point between two different worlds. Welcome to
Mauritania. At midnight on November 28th 1960 under a tent in Nouakchott to which the capital
was recently moved the chosen president announces the independence of Mauritania from French
colonialism. He does this in the presence of foreign press delegations and a number of French
and African personalities. Since then Mauritania is considered a link between the Arab and African
worlds. Now we'll be introduced to the top 10 most interesting facts about this country.
Hello dear, African countries are not just deserts that contain camels and sheep.
So to stay up to date with my latest videos and interesting new information
make sure to subscribe to this YouTube channel by clicking the button below this video.
Let's get started. Number 10. The Parc National du Banque d'Argoune. A UNESCO world heritage site
it's one of the largest bird sanctuaries and very popular amongst bird lovers all across the world.
You can spot many migratory birds in the reserve. You can go bird watching there. The park comprises
of sand dunes, coastal swamps, small islands and shallow coastal waters. The contrast between the
harsh desert environments and the biodiversity of the marine zone has resulted in a land and
seascape of outstanding natural significance. A wide variety of migrating birds spends the
winter here. Several species of sea turtles and dolphins used by the fishermen to attract
shoals of fish can also be found. Number 9. The Richat Structure. An eye staring at you from
space. It's a huge eye in the Mauritanian desert which is visible from space and it ranks as one
of the most incredible geological marvels of our world. Just imagine looking down on earth from
space and an eye staring back at you. It's known that the diameter of this eye is around 40
kilometers and it looks like a bull's eye. The exact reason for its creation is still unknown
as while competing theories concerning its origin exist, the debate still rages amongst some
scientists. Nature seems reluctant to yield its mysteries to mankind. Some evidence indicates that
the astonishing eye of the Sahara represents the remnants of a geological dome that formed
approximately 100 million years ago. Number 8. Bay of Nuadhibo. The Graveyard of Ships.
The place where there are rusting hulks in every direction and ships that were so cheap it was
better to illegally abandon them in this harbor than to correctly dismantle. The city of Nuadhibo
is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as the country's commercial center.
It's famous for being the location of one of the largest ship graveyards in the world.
Hundreds of rusting ships can be seen all around in the water and on beaches.
Various historical records cite that the port city became a vessel graveyard during the late
20th century. However, the idea of using the peninsula as a ship graveyard predates back to
the days of the country's French colonization during the 20s and peaked to substantial heights
during the 80s. Number 7. Uguia. In the past, there were several currencies circulating inside
Mauritania. The Uguia is the only Arabic word among all the monetary conventions in Mauritania.
All of the other terms are of European origin, so this authentic Arabic word was chosen as a
name for the Mauritanian national currency. You'll learn in Mauritania to give more value
and attention to the number 5. Mauritania is one of only two countries in the world to not
use a decimal currency. The other is Madagascar. The Uguia is the currency of Mauritania. Each
Uguia consists of five khums. Number 6. As a Mauritanian kid, we can expect now that you
should now have a rooster's form dependent on the number of teeth you've replaced so far.
In Mauritania, when a child loses a tooth, their parents tell them to wrap up their tooth in a
small piece of cloth and throw it as hard as they can onto the roof of their house. If they get up
very early in the next morning, they'll find a rooster on the roof, and they can keep it. If
they don't wake up early enough, though, they won't find the rooster. Number 5. Big is beautiful.
In Mauritania, you'll not be considered as a rich man by your huge mansion, luxurious company,
or even fancy sports cars. Rather, you'll be considered rich by the weight of your wife.
Mauritanian women differed from the rest of the world's women in their choice of what expresses
beauty in their society. All around the world, you must have heard about unusual beauty parameters.
Society stresses a lot on body weight, and as we are discussing this topic,
many people are sweating in the gym to lose a few extra kilos. But in Mauritania, big is beautiful,
and a girl is considered pretty only if she is fat. You can say that a plus-sized woman
is the best accepted in society. This looks like a parallel universe. This standard of beauty comes
from their ancestors who thought that a fat wife was a symbol of a man's wealth, proof that he had
enough riches to feed her generously. Number 4. Black bride dress and white groom suit.
You must have felt a mistake in imagining it. But yes, in addition to the issue of weight,
the Mauritanians have chosen for themselves other differences in the meanings expressed by the
colors. According to the folk stories, women born and living in Mauritania had pale skin.
When wearing black dresses, they looked more attractive than they really were.
Besides, black dresses in the past were made only from natural materials,
which helped women get rid of ugly dark spots on their skin. Another reason is that the Mauritanian
man considers that the white dress is associated with sad occasions, and his wife is not allowed
to wear it on the wedding night, and he wants her to keep her black clothes for at least three days
after the wedding. Which is surprising as the Mauritanian people differ from other peoples
in their view of color indicators, as black indicates joy and happiness. In contrast to
women, men are supposed to marry in white. Number 3. Some fights happen out of love,
not out of hate. Complementing the different aspects of wedding parties in Mauritania from
the rest of the countries, we advise the invitees to these parties to carry a first aid bag with
them while going there, as they might need it. Weddings in Mauritania cannot be completed without
the groom's participation in confrontations and disputes, which are fabricated by the bride's
family, and this is evidence of the extent of his love for the bride. The groom must fight a
furious battle to take his bride and take her to the marital home. The fall of some casualties is
something that is likely to happen in these fights. Number 2. A tie. A sacred ritual with a
long history, and the most beautiful verses of poetry in the country have been said about it.
Did you guess what this sacred Mauritanian thing is? It's Mauritanian tea. Don't be surprised,
yes, it's the Mauritanian tea. Mauritanian tea, known locally as a tie, is not just an ordinary
drink for Mauritanians. It has a great presence in Mauritanian culture, literature, poetry,
and the history of the region. A lot of legal and poetic debate took place around it. In its early
stages of entry, it was limited to the elite and the elderly of the traditional notables in
Mauritanian society, and has a special preparation method and a combination of necessary conditions.
Mauritanians require that the tea preparer, which is called a qiyam in Arabic, like the doer in
English, to be sweet and funny, and an intelligent sitter who can open up light topics and manage
the divan, which often revolves around funny and rare topics. One of the constant conditions of
tea in its preparation is to maintain the adoption of what Mauritanians call the three Gs,
which are three words that begin with the letter G, which in Arabic are
respectively, and in English,
They meant the slowness in preparation tea and not rushing to pour and drink it.
They meant that it is preferable to prepare on charcoal in order to find the appropriate and
slow heat to boil well. This means to be prepared in a group of sitting people,
who are often family or friends, and it's preferable that they are close in age so that
they can deal with the topics they prefer. Number one. That's it. We've spoken a lot
about Mauritania. Wait a minute. What is Mauritania? Where did we even get this name
from? If an old Mauritanian was listening to me now, he would not have known what I'm talking
about, because it was not called that name before. Let me tell you, the word Mauritania
was not used to refer to the geographical area currently known as Mauritania. As for the original
name, it was called in English, the land of and the inhabitants were called, but France named the
country Mauritania when it colonized it at the beginning of the last century. I forgot to tell
you why the words are in Arabic. This is because the official language of the country is Arabic.
The Mauritanian constitution stipulates the existence of four national languages.
The first of which is Arabic, the official language of the country, along with the Polarian
language, the millennium language, and the Sinonic language, African languages. But there's a fifth
language that's not provided for in the constitution, which is the Zanak language, the Berber
language. And this language is almost disappearing from the country. And this is the video today
about Mauritania or Bilad al-Shanqit, the country of the highest mountain almost made totally of
iron ore, the offshore oil, and one of the longest trains in the world that measures almost
three kilometers long. I hope you've enjoyed this video and if anyone else has information
about interesting facts about Mauritania or about African countries in general, let us know about
them to increase the dissemination of information and learn about the different cultures of these
countries.
