The Medjerda River ( ar, وادي مجردة), the classical Bagrada, is a river in North Africa flowing from northeast

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

through

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

before emptying into the

Gulf of Tunis The Gulf of Tunis () is a large Mediterranean bay in north-eastern Tunisia, extending for from Cape Farina in the west to Cape Bon in the east. Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, lies at the south-western edge of the Gulf, as have a series o ...

and

Lake of Tunis The Lake of Tunis ( ''Buḥayra Tūnis''; ) is a natural lagoon located between the Tunisian capital city of Tunis and the Gulf of Tunis ( Mediterranean Sea). The lake covers a total of 37 square kilometres, in contrast to its size its dept ...

. With a length of , it is the longest river of Tunisia. It is also known as the Wadi Majardah or Mejerha (french: Oued Majardah).

Course

The Medjerda River originates in the

Tell Atlas The Tell Atlas ( ar, الاطلس التلي, Latn, ar, al-ʾaṭlas al-tlī) is a mountain chain over in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges in North Africa, stretching mainly across northern Algeria, with ends in both north-easter ...

, part of the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through ...

, in northeastern Algeria and then flows eastwards to Tunisia, then entering the Gulf of Utica of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. Its course has a length of . It is the most important and longest river in Tunisia and is dammed in several locations, being a major supplier of water to the country's wheat crops. The Gulf of Utica was formed during the postglacial transgression about 6,000 years ago. Over time, fluvial deposits from the Medjerda gradually filled up the northern part of the gulf. The succession of events during historical times has been inferred from ancient documents and archaeological evidence. Besides morphological ground observations, aerial and satellite photographs have been used to analyze how the landscape has evolved over the past 3,000 years. The gulf's southern part was filled up in late ancient times. The sea gradually withdrew from the northern part during the Middle Ages and modern times. The Ghar el Melh lagoon is the last vestige of what used to be the Utica gulf. Following the last big flood in 1973, the Medjerda shifted, once again, its course. It now flows through a canal originally dug to evacuate the overflow of flood waters.Ameur Oueslati, Faouzia Charfi & Fadhel Baccar, ''La basse vallée de Oued Majerda et la lagune de Ghar El Melh'', projet WADI

History

Historically the Medjerda is Tunisia's crucial waterway providing water to the country supply facilities, it is also vital to the people living near the river. Water from the Medjerda is used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

and is pivotal to the region's agriculture. A strategic resource, it was fought over and settled many times by the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, Romans,

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

, Byzantines,

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

, and the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. Several major cities were founded on or near it, including Utica,

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

, and eventually

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. The former ports of Utica and Ghar el-Melh (Rusucmona or Porto Farina) were eventually closed by the silting of their harbors.

References

{{Coord, 37, 07, N, 10, 13, E, display=title, region:DZ_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Algeria Rivers of Tunisia International rivers of Africa

Course

History

See also

References