A member of a nomadic Berber-speaking people of the southwestern Sahara in Africa.
Their feudal, matrilineal culture divides society into nobles, clergy, vassals, artisans, and labourers (once slaves). Northern Tuareg live mainly in true desert; southern Tuareg live in steppe and savanna. They have traditionally engaged in herding, agriculture, convoying caravans across their territories, and raiding neighbouring tribes. They combine many pre-Islamic rituals and customs with Sunnite Muslim beliefs. Droughts in the 1970s and '80s reduced their numbers and eroded their traditional way of life.