The 1989 events were a series of ethnic and political disturbances in Mauritania and Senegal.

In April 1989, a long-standing dispute over the location of the common border in relation to the dividing Senegal river escalated into ethnic violence, which quickly drew both governments into the fray. Border stone at Passo San Giacomo between Val Formazza in Italy and Val Bedretto in Switzerland Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or subnational administrative divisions. ... The Senegal River, in West Africa, forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania. ... 15:40, 25 January 2007 (UTC)168. ...

Mauritania's south is heavily populated by the Wolof, Soninké and Fula peoples, while the northern Moorish (Arabo-Berber) population has long dominated politics, from pre-colonial slave-taking (with some vestiges of slavery remaining today) to political Arabization and racial discrimination post-independence. In 1989, ethnic tension boiled over, and in the violence that followed, tens of thousands of black Mauritanian southerners fled or were expelled towards Senegal.[1] Some of these refugees remain in refugee camps today, and this is were the armed black nationalist Mauritanian movement FLAM is based. Senegal reciprocated by chasing Moorish citizens from the country, although in lesser numbers. Wolof may refer to: the ethnic group of the Wolof people; the Wolof language; things originating from the culture or tradition of the Wolof people. ... Also called Sarakole, Seraculeh, or Serahuli, the Soninke are a Mandé people who descend from the Bafour, and are closely related to the Imraguen of Mauritania. ... Categories: Africa-related stubs | Burkina Faso | Cameroon | Ethnic groups of Africa | Fulani Empire | Mali | Nigeria ... Moorish Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I of England The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including present day Spain and Portugal) as well as the Maghreb and western Africa, whose culture is often called Moorish. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... An African-American drinks out of a water fountain marked for colored in 1939 at a street car terminal in Oklahoma City. ...

These expulsions marked a brutal climax in Mauritania's complicated and sometimes violent historical relations between Moors and southerners, and with ethnic tension remaining an important factor in the country today, the 1989 events is an important point of reference in the country's political discourse. Look up Climax in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...