Official language of government and taught in schools.

The familiar spoken variety of Arabic. It is close to the dialect used by the Bedouins. The language serves as lingua franca.

Zenaga: The Berber language which was more spoken in the past, but which is still used in the south of the country, near the Senegal river. The speakers of the Zenaga language are known by the eponymous name of Berber Zenaga. Otherwise, most of the Moorish population speaks Berber languages. The Islamization and Arabization of the population have reduced the number of Berber speakers. Tamasheq, is the Berber language of the Tuaregs.

Wolof is a language of Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania, and the mother tongue of the Wolof people.

The Soninke language is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke of Africa. The language has approximately 2,100,000 speakers, mainly located in Mali and also (in order of numerical importance of the communities) in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Ghana . It enjoys the status of a national language in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania.

It is spoken in Mauritania by the Peuls and the Toucouleur. It is a national language.

According to Ethnologue, there are 705,500 French speakers in Mauritania. It effectively serves as the national working language. Mauritania is also a member of the International Organization of La Francophonie.