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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Mauritania
Index
A relatively small number of Wolof live in Mauritania. Most
live in Senegal, where they are the dominant group. The Wolof
language comprises several dialects and has borrowed many words
from Arabic and various European languages. Almost all Wolof are
Muslims, and nearly all belong to one of several Islamic
brotherhoods. Farming and trading are the basis of their
livelihood.
Descent is reckoned patrilineally, but close ties also are
maintained with maternal kin. The basic social unit is the
extended family. Perhaps one-fourth of all Wolof households are
polygynous. Social stratification is fairly rigid, intermarriage
across ethnic boundaries at the same stratum being far more
common than intermarriage across strata.
Data as of June 1988
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