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.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

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 Constituti ...

. 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) Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and Erlanger (Kentucky) areas and another 1,065 Mauritanians live in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

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 borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, 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,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

and

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and persons living in Mauritania.Mauritanian Community Association

Notable people

Ahmed Ould Sid'Ahmed Ahmed Ould Sid'Ahmed (born August 11, 1949
at AMI website .) is a Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah ( ar, أحمدو ولد عبد الله) (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 fr ...

Nasser Weddady Nasser Weddady ( ar, ناصر ودادي) is a Mauritanian-American activist known for his social media activism during the Arab Spring. Biography Weddady is the son of a Mauritanian diplomat who served as Mauritania's ambassador to Ethiopia, Nige ...

Mamoudou Athie Mamoudou Athie ( ) is a Mauritanian Americans, Mauritanian-American actor. He is best known for starring in the 2022 Netflix horror series ''Archive 81'' and supporting roles in films including Jurassic World Dominion, ''Jurassic World: Dominion ...

References

External links

Mauritanians in America
{{African immigration to the United States +

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...