Mauritanian Americans are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

n descent or

ns who have

American citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...

. According to answers provided to an open-ended question included in the 2000 US census, 993 people said that their ancestry or ethnic origin was Mauritanian. According to a 2012 published report, however, about 4,000 people of Mauritanian origin live in the Cincinnati (Ohio) and Erlanger (Kentucky) areas and another 1,065 Mauritanians live in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

Demography

Most Mauritanians living in the United States are refugees, fleeing poverty. There are Mauritanian immigrant communities in several parts of United States, such as

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, but at least one-third of the people of Mauritanian origin resides in Ohio (mostly in Cincinnati and Columbus) and Erlanger, Kentucky. Some of them were historically enslaved Blacks (Haratin) or they were White Moors. Some of the White Moors who settled in the Cincinnati area had clashed with the Mauritanian government, either because they supported a failed candidate for president or because their families spoke out against government policies, including slavery. Some "Afro-Mauritanians", who have a darker skin but were never enslaved, are also present in the United States. The White Moors and Black Moors speak dialects of Arabic, while the Afro-Mauritanians speak African languages. Mauritanian Americans have created several community associations in the United States, such as Mauritanian Community and Friendship in Erlanger, Kentucky (composed mostly of White Moors) and the Mauritanian Community Association of Ohio in Cincinnati (composed almost entirely of Afro-Mauritanians)."Mauritanian refugees make new home in Ohio", ''CNN'', reported by John D. Sutter, March 17, 2012
/ref> The purpose of the latter organization is to help Mauritanian Americans "in many aspects: human, social and cultural". Its future plans include assisting Mauritanian refugees in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and persons living in Mauritania.Mauritanian Community Association

Notable people

* Ahmed Ould Sid'Ahmed *

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah () (born November 21, 1940) is a Mauritanian diplomat who was a senior United Nations official. Background Ould-Abdallah was born on November 21, 1940, in Mauritania. He graduated from a secondary school in Dakar, Senegal. ...

* Nasser Weddady *

Mamoudou Athie Mamoudou Athie ( ; born 1988) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the feature films '' Uncorked'' and ''Black Box'', and had the leading role in the Netflix horror series '' Archive 81'' (2022). He has also had support ...

References

External links

* {{Portal, Mauritania, United States + *