El Menia () is an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentcommune, and capital of El Ménia District, in

Ghardaïa Province Ghardaïa () is an Algerian province located in the north of the Algerian desert. Its administrative center is the city of Ghardaia, located south of the capital Algiers. Its total area is estimated at , from north to south, and from east to ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. The former name is El Goléa (); together in Arabic, the two names mean ''Impregnable Castle''. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 40,195, up from 28,848 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 3.4%. The area is inhabited by the Zenete Berbers. El Menia oasis grows many agricultural products. The grave of the French priest

Charles de Foucauld Charles Eugène, vicomte de Foucauld de Pontbriand, (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916), commonly known as Charles de Foucauld, was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuare ...

is located in the town.

Geography

El Menia is located almost at the center of

, lying at the eastern border of the

Grand Erg Occidental The Grand Erg Occidental (, al-ʿIrq al-Gharbī al-Kabīr), (also known as the Western Sand Sea) is the second largest erg in northern Algeria after the Grand Erg Oriental. It covers an area of approximately . The sand dunes in the erg are formed ...

at an elevation of . The town is a gateway to the Sahara in the south, and has an estimated 180,000 palm trees within the oasis area. The oasis itself lies beneath an escarpment rising up to above. Some of the largest continuous areas of Saharan sand dunes begin just a few kilometres to the west of the oasis.

Climate

El Menia has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BWh''), with long, extremely hot summers and short, warm winters. There is very little rain throughout the year, and summers are especially dry. Summer daytime temperatures are known to consistently approach . The sky is clear throughout the year and sunny, bright days are guaranteed. On July 7, 2021, the record high temperature of was registered.

Transportation

El Menia has good road connections along the N1 highway to

Ghardaïa Ghardaïa (, ) 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 of 0.7%. It is located in northern-central A ...

to the north and

In Salah Ain Salah, officially Aïn Salah (), is an oasis town in central Algeria and the capital of In Salah Province and In Salah District. It was once an important trade link in the trans-Saharan caravan route. As of the 2008 census, it had a popula ...

to the south.

El Golea Airport El Golea Airport is an airport in El Menia, Algeria. Airlines and destinations The only airline operating regular flights to/from the airport is Air Algérie Air Algérie SpA (, ) is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the ...

is located west of the town's center.

Education

6.9% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 17.3% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 81.4%, and is 85.4% among males and 77.2% among females.

Localities

The commune of El Menia is composed of 12 localities: * Centre-ville * Taghit * Belbachir * Hoffrat El Abbas * Vieux Ksar * Badriane * Belaïd * Zouitel * Ouled Zid * Tin Bouzid * Ksar Belkacem * Ouled Feradj

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{DEFAULTSORT:El Golea El Ménia District Oases of Algeria Communes of Ghardaïa Province Ghardaïa Province