El Oued (), Souf or Oued Souf is a city, and the capital of
El Oued Province
El Oued (, ) is a Saharan province of Algeria (n° 39) dominated by ''Oued Souf''. It was named after its eponymous capital. Notable towns include El Oued itself and Guemar.
Geography
Physical geography
El Oued Province lies in the Sahara de ...
, in
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
oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment[Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...]
(the capital city of Algeria), near the
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
n border. The population of El Oued was 134,699 as of the 2008 census,
up from 105,256 in 1998, with a population growth rate of 2.5%.
History
In the 11th century, the
Fatimids
The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...
sent
Banu Hilal
The Banu Hilal () was a confederation of Arab tribes from the Najd region of the central Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa in the 11th century. They ruled the Najd, and campaigned in the borderlands between I ...
to the
Tripolitania
Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya.
The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...
,
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
and
Constantine areas to fight against the
Zirids
The Zirid dynasty (), Banu Ziri (), was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from what is now Algeria which ruled the central Maghreb from 972 to 1014 and Ifriqiya (eastern Maghreb) from 972 to 1148.
Descendants of Ziri ibn Manad, a military leader of th ...
.
Culture
The inhabitants belong to
Teroud tribe (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: بنو طرود) living in and near Oued Souf area.
Climate
El Oued 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 very hot summers and mild winters. Rainfall is light and sporadic, and summers are particularly dry.
Transportation
The N16 highway connects El Oued to
Touggourt
Touggourt (; or 'the gate') is a city and Communes of Algeria, commune, former sultanate and capital of Touggourt District, in Touggourt Province, Algeria, built next to an oasis in the Sahara. As of the 2008 census, the commune had a population ...
to the southwest and
Tebessa to the northeast. The N48 connects El Oued to the town of
Still
A still is an apparatus used to distillation, distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively Boiling, boil and then cooling to Condensation, condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic Distillation#Laboratory_procedures, ...
to the north, from which the N3 may be used to reach
Biskra
Biskra () is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about from Algiers, southwest of Batna, Algeria, Batna and north of Touggourt. It is nickna ...
.
El Oued lies about south of
Guemar Airport.
Education
7.4% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 17.5% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 86.1% (second highest in the province), and is 91.2% among males (second highest in the province) and 80.6% among females (equal highest in the province).
Localities
The commune of El Oued is composed of six localities:
*El Oued
*Mahda
*Legtouta
*Keraïma
*
Oum Sahaouine
*Mih Bahi Sud
References
External links
El-Oued: Pearl of Sahara
{{Authority control
Communes of El Oued Province
Oases of Algeria
Cities in Algeria
Province seats of Algeria
El Oued Province