Adrar ( ar, ولاية أدرار, ber, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ) is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

(''

wilaya A wilayah ( ar, وَلاية, wālāya or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu and fa, ولایت, ''velâyat''; tr, vilayet) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes fr ...

'') in southwestern

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

, named after its capital

Adrar Adrar (in Tifinagh script "ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ"), a Berber word meaning "mountain", is the name of several areas in Northwest Africa: Algeria * Adrar, Algeria, a town in Algeria * Adrar Province, an administrative division of Algeria * Adrar District, ...

. It is the second-largest province, with an area of 424,948 km², roughly the size of the US state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It had 402,197 inhabitants at the 2008 population census. It is bordered by five other wilayas: to the west by

Tindouf Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...

; to the north by

Béchar Béchar ( ar, بشار) is the capital city of Béchar Province, Algeria. It is also a commune, coextensive with Béchar District, of Béchar Province. In 2008 the city had a population of 165,627, up from 134,954 in 1998, with an annual growth ...

and

El Bayadh El Bayadh () is a municipality of Algeria. It is the capital of El Bayadh Province. This town was known as ''Géryville'' during the French colonization of Algeria. Geography The Ksour Range is a mountainous A mountain is an elevated po ...

; to the east by

Ghardaïa Ghardaïa ( ar, غرداية, Mzab-Berber: ''Taɣerdayt'') is the capital city of Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. The commune of Ghardaïa has a population of 93,423 according to the 2008 census, up from 87,599 in 1998, with an annual growth rate ...

and

Tamanrasset Tamanrasset (; ar, تامنراست), also known as Tamanghasset or Tamenghest, is an oasis city and capital of Tamanrasset Province in southern Algeria, in the Ahaggar Mountains. It is the chief city of the Algerian Tuareg. It is located an alt ...

. To the south, it is bordered by Mauritania and

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

. Adrar is composed of three natural and cultural regions:

Touat Tuat, or Touat, is a natural region of desert in central Algeria that contains a string of small oases. In the past, the oases were important for caravans crossing the Sahara. Geography Tuat lies to the south of the Grand Erg Occidental, to th ...

(Adrar,

Zaouiet Kounta Zaouiet Kounta is a town in southern Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates ...

Gourara Tuat, or Touat, is a natural region of desert in central Algeria that contains a string of small oases. In the past, the oases were important for caravans crossing the Sahara. Geography Tuat lies to the south of the Grand Erg Occidental, to th ...

(

Aougrout Aougrout ( ar, أوﻗﺮت) is a commune in Aougrout District, Adrar Province, in south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 11,784, up from 9,878 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 1.8%. Geography The popu ...

Timimoune Timimoun ( ar, ﺗﻴﻤﻴﻤﻮن) is a town and commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Adrar Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate ...

) and Tidikelt ( Aoulef), and 299 '' ksour''.

History

The province was created from parts of the

Oasis department In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

and Saoura department in 1974.

Geography

Location

The province of Adrar is located in south-west

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

Administrative divisions

The province comprises 7 districts (''

daïra A daïra or daerah ( ''circle''; plural ''dawaïr'') is an administrative division in Algeria and Western Sahara in West Africa, as well as Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. It is commonly translated in English as "district". West ...

s'') and 16

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

or municipalities (''

baladiyah Baladiyah () is a type of Arabic administrative division that can be translated as "district", "sub-district" or "municipality". The plural is baladiyat (). Grammatically, it is the feminine of "rural, country-, folk-". The Arabic term amanah ( ...

s'') The following table shows the list of districts in the province of Adrar and all the communes in each district.

Districts

# Aoulef #

Bordj Badji Mokhtar Bordj Badji Mokhtar ( ar, برج باجي مختار) is a town and commune in Bordj Badji Mokhtar District, Bordj Badji Mokhtar Province, in south-western Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 16,437, up from 9,323 in 1998, ...

# Charouine # Fenoughil #

Reggane Reggane (from Berber "Argan"; ar, رقان) is a town and commune, and the capital of Reggane District, in Adrar Province, central Algeria. Reggane lies in the Sahara Desert near an oasis. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 20,4 ...

# T'Sabit #

Timimoun Timimoun ( ar, ﺗﻴﻤﻴﻤﻮن) is a town and commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Adrar Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate ...

# Tinerkouk #

Zaouiet Kounta Zaouiet Kounta is a town in southern Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates ...

Communes

References

External links

Adrar Province

{{Authority control Provinces of Algeria States and territories established in 1974