Mogheul ( ar, ﻣﻮﻏﻞ) is a town and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Lahmar District Lahmar is a district in Béchar Province, Algeria. It was named after its capital, Lahmar. According to the 2008 census, the total population of the district was 3,574 inhabitants. The region lies to the north of the provincial capital Béchar and ...

Béchar Province Béchar ( ar, ولاية بشار) is the second least-densely populated province (''wilaya'') in Algeria, named after its capital Béchar. History The greater part of the province is dry plains (hamadas) suitable for grazing but with insuffic ...

, in western

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

near the border with

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. According to the 2008 census its population is 635, down from 682 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of -0.7%, the lowest in the province. The commune covers an area of , making it the smallest by area in the province.

Geography

Mogheul lies at an elevation of on a plateau crossed by ranges of rocky hills. Small ranges rising about above the surrounds are found quite nearby the town to the north and south; higher ranges are found further to the northeast and further south.

Climate

Mogheul 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 is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''BWh''), with very hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is generally light, although due to Mogheul's high altitude and latitude it does receive somewhat more rain than other locations in

. Summers are particularly dry.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

is a significant industry in Mogheul. The commune has a total of of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

, of which only is

irrigated 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 ...

. There are a total of 22,200

date palms ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

planted in the commune. As of 2009 there were 745

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, 555

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of Caprinae, goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a membe ...

, and 2

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

Infrastructure and housing

100% of Mogheul's population is connected to drinking water, 100% is connected to the sewerage system, and 89% (including 179 buildings) have access to electricity. There are no fuel service stations in the town; the nearest is in

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 ...

. Mogheul has a total of 257 houses, of which 114 are occupied, giving an occupation rate of 5.6 inhabitants per occupied building, the second lowest in the province (after

Lahmar Lahmar ( ar, اﻻﺣﻤﺮ) is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune, and capital of Lahmar District, in Béchar Province, western Algeria. According to the 2008 census its population is 1,969, up from 1,404 in 1998, and its population growth r ...

Transportation

A local road connects the town to

, to the south, and then continues south to the provincial capital

, from Mogheul. There is a total length of of roads in the commune.

Education

There is one elementary school, with 6 classrooms including 4 in use. There are a total of 44 school students; secondary students study in

. 6.1% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 23.7% has competed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 84.9%, and is 89.9% among males and 80.0% among females.

Health

Mogheul has a polyclinic, and a room care facility. The nearest hospital is in

Religion

Mogheul has one operational

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, with another one under construction.

Localities

The commune is composed of two localities: *Mogheul * El Menabha El Menabha is about west of Mogheul town, on the road to Lahmar.

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{Béchar Province Communes of Béchar Province