📖 About Kiffa

Kiffa is the capital of Mauritania's Assaba Region, an important town in the southern Sahel zone where Saharan desert transitions to savanna. With approximately 60,000 residents, Kiffa is famous for one distinctive tradition: Kiffa beads, handmade powder-glass beads produced by women using techniques developed over centuries. These intricate, colorful beads have become sought-after collector items worldwide.

The town sits on the Route de l'Espoir (Road of Hope), the main highway crossing Mauritania from Nouakchott to the Malian border. This strategic position makes Kiffa a commercial hub for the region. The population includes both Moor (Arab-Berber) and Black African communities, reflecting Mauritania's complex ethnic composition.

Kiffa offers visitors insight into Saharan-Sahelian culture, traditional crafts, and Mauritanian society beyond the capital. The famous beads provide a tangible connection to local artistic traditions that continue in homes throughout the town.

🏛️ Top Attractions

💼 Economy & Culture

Kiffa's economy relies on livestock trade, commerce, and the famous bead-making tradition. The town serves as a market center for nomadic herders bringing camels, goats, and cattle. Agricultural production where rainfall permits supplements the pastoral economy. The Route de l'Espoir brings transit trade. Bead-making provides income for women artisans, with collectors and traders buying the distinctive Kiffa beads. Government services employ some residents.

Kiffa's culture reflects Mauritanian complexity—Arab-Berber Moors and Black African communities (Fulani, Soninke) coexist with historical tensions. Islam unifies religious practice; Arabic and local languages are spoken. Traditional Moorish culture includes poetry, music, and tea ceremonies. The bead-making tradition, passed mother to daughter, represents unique women's artistic heritage. Social structures remain traditional despite modernization pressures. Hospitality customs welcome visitors according to Saharan traditions.

📜 History

The Kiffa area has been inhabited by pastoral and farming communities for centuries. The region lay along trans-Saharan trade routes connecting West African kingdoms with North Africa. French colonization reached southern Mauritania in the late 19th century, establishing administrative centers including Kiffa.

Mauritanian independence in 1960 made Kiffa a regional capital. The country has experienced political instability, slavery controversies, and ethnic tensions between Moors and Black Africans. The 1989-1991 Senegal-Mauritania conflict affected border regions. Development has brought the Route de l'Espoir and improved services. The bead tradition, which may date centuries, gained international recognition as collectors discovered Kiffa beads. Today's Kiffa maintains traditional crafts while adapting to modern Mauritania's challenges and opportunities.