President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
رئيس الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية Président de la République Islamique de la Mauritanie
Seal of Mauritania
Presidential standard
Incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani since 1 August 2019
Residence	Presidential Palace, Nouakchott
Term length	5 years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Moktar Ould Daddah
Formation	20 August 1961
Salary	300,000 USD annually[1][2]
Website	presidence.mr

Politics of Mauritania
Member State of the Arab League
Constitution Human rights Slavery
Government President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Prime Minister Mohamed Ould Bilal
Parliament National Assembly President
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Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2014 2019 2024 Parliamentary: 2013 2018 2023 Political parties Electoral districts
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This is a list of heads of state of Mauritania since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day.

A total of nine people have served as head of state of Mauritania (not counting one Acting President). Additionally, one person, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has served on two non-consecutive occasions.

The current head of state of Mauritania is the President of the Republic Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, since 1 August 2019.^[3][4]

Term limits

As of 2023, there is a two-term limit for the president in the Constitution of Mauritania. The first president who adhered to the term limits was Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in 2019.^[5]

Titles

• 1960–1961: Acting Head of State
• 1961–1978: President of the Islamic Republic
• 1978–1979: Chairman of the Military Committee for National Recovery
• 1979: Head of State and Chairman of the Military Committee for National Recovery
• 1979–1992: Head of State and Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation
• 1992–2005: President of the Islamic Republic
• 2005–2007: Chairman of the Military Council for Justice and Democracy
• 2007–2008: President of the Islamic Republic
• 2008–2009: President of the High Council of State
• 2009–present: President of the Islamic Republic

List of officeholders

Political parties

Other factions

Status

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Term of office			Political party	Prime minister(s)
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Moktar Ould Daddah (1924–2003)	1961 1966 1971 1976	28 November 1960	10 July 1978 (deposed)	17 years, 224 days	PRM / PPM	Himself
2		Mustafa Ould Salek (1936–2012)	—	10 July 1978	3 June 1979 (resigned)[a]	328 days	Military	Bouceif Sidi Haidalla
3		Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly (1943–2019)	—	3 June 1979	4 January 1980 (deposed)	215 days	Military	Haidalla
4		Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla (born 1940)	—	4 January 1980	12 December 1984 (deposed)	4 years, 343 days	Military	Himself Bneijara Taya Himself
5		Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya (born 1941)	1992 1997 2003	12 December 1984	3 August 2005 (deposed)	20 years, 234 days	Military / PRDS	Himself Boubacar Khouna Guig Khouna M'Bareck
6		Ely Ould Mohamed Vall (1953–2017)	—	3 August 2005	19 April 2007	1 year, 259 days	Military (Sûreté Nationale)	Boubacar
7		Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi (1938–2020)	2007	19 April 2007	6 August 2008 (deposed)	1 year, 109 days	Independent	Zeidane Waghef
8		Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (born 1956)	—	6 August 2008	15 April 2009	252 days	Military	Laghdaf
–		Ba Mamadou Mbaré (1946–2013)[b]	—	15 April 2009	5 August 2009	112 days	Independent	Laghdaf
(8)		Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (born 1956)	2009 2014	5 August 2009	1 August 2019	9 years, 361 days	UPR	Laghdaf Hademine Béchir
9		Mohamed Ould Ghazouani (born 1956)	2019	1 August 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 12 days	UPR	Béchir Sidiya Bilal
							El Insaf[c]

Timeline

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