Country Algeria Area 37,713 km2 | District Tamanrasset District | |
Tamanrasset (Arabic: ??????? , also known as Tamen?est, Tamanghasset or Tamenghest, Tuareg: ) 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 at 22°47?6?N 5°31?22?E at an altitude of 1,320 metres (4,330 ft). As of the 2008 census, it has a population of 92,635, up from 72,741 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 2.5%.
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Map of Tamanrasset
Tamanrasset was originally established as a military outpost to guard the trans-Saharan trade routes. Surrounded by the barren Sahara Desert, very high temperatures of over 47 °C (117 °F) have been recorded here. Tamanrasset is located at an oasis where, despite the difficult climate, citrus fruits, apricots, dates, almonds, cereals, corn, and figs are grown. The Tuareg people are the towns main inhabitants. Tamanrasset is a popular tourist attraction during the cooler months. Visitors are also drawn to the Museum of the Hoggar, which offers many exhibits depicting Tuareg life and culture.
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The city is served by Tamanrasset Airport and the Trans-Sahara Highway.
History
Tamanrasset originated as the centre of a network of camel caravan trading routes from Kano, Lake Chad, Gao, Agades and Zinder. When Algeria was under French rule the town was established as a military post, originally named Fort Laperrine, after General Francois-Henry Laperrine who died in the desert nearby.
Charles de Foucauld was shot to death outside his Tamanrasset compound by Sermi ag Thora under the command of El Madani ag Soba on December 1, 1916.
On 13 February 1960, during the Algerian War, Gerboise Bleue - the first French nuclear test - detonated in the middle of the Algerian Sahara desert, located about 800 km southwest of Tamanrasset.
In 2003 Air Algerie Flight 6289 crashed in the city.
In 2010, the oasis town is the site of the Joint Military Staff Committee headquarters for combating Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb. The four-country Committee (Algeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania) intends to use Tamanrasset to coordinate their military activity in the Pan-Sahel.