| Post: | President |
| Body: | the Islamic Republic of Mauritania |
| Native Name: | رئيس الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية Président de la République Islamique de la Mauritanie |
| Insignia: | Seal of Mauritania (2018).svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of Mauritania |
| Flag: | Flag of the president of Mauritania.svg |
| Flagcaption: | Presidential standard |
| Incumbent: | Mohamed Ould Ghazouani |
| Incumbentsince: | 1 August 2019 |
| Residence: | Presidential Palace, Nouakchott |
| Termlength: | 5 years, renewable once |
| Formation: | 20 August 1961 |
| Inaugural: | Moktar Ould Daddah |
| Salary: | 300,000 USD annually[1] [2] |
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]
As of 2024, 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]
| Portrait | Name | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Prime minister(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | Moktar Ould Daddah | 1961 1966 1971 1976 | 1960 | 1978 | Himself | |||
| 2 | Mustafa Ould Salek | — | 1978 | 1979 | Military | Bouceif Sidi Haidalla | ||
| 3 | Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly | — | 1979 | 1980 | Military | Haidalla | ||
| 4 | Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla | — | 1980 | 1984 | Military | Himself Bneijara Taya Himself | ||
| 5 | Mu'awiya al-Taya | 1992 1997 2003 | 1984 | 2005 | Military / PRDS | Himself Boubacar Khouna Guig Khouna M'Bareck | ||
| 6 | Ely Ould Mohamed Vall | — | 2005 | 2007 | Military | Boubacar | ||
| 7 | Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi | 2007 | 2007 | 2008 | Independent | Zeidane Waghef | ||
| 8 | Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz | — | 2008 | 2009 | Military | Laghdaf | ||
| – | Ba Mamadou Mbaré | — | 2009 | 2009 | Independent | Laghdaf | ||
| Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz | 2009 2014 | 2009 | 2019 | UPR | Laghdaf Hademine Béchir | |||
| 9 | Mohamed Ould Ghazouani | 2019 2024 | 2019 | Incumbent | UPR | Béchir Sidiya Bilal Djay | ||
| El Insaf | ||||||||
See main article: 2019 Mauritanian presidential election.