Theme Week Algeria – Tamanrasset
Tuesday, 26 September 2017 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: North Africa / Nordafrika General , Union for the Mediterranean
Reading Time: 4 minutes
© W. Robrecht – wilrob.org/cc-by-sa-3.0
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Tamanrasset 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 altitude of 1,320 metres (4,330 ft). As of the 2008 census, it has a population of 93,000. 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 town’s main inhabitants. Tamanrasset is a 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. The city is served by
Tamanrasset Airport and the
Trans-Sahara Highway .
Tamanrasset originated as the centre of a network of camel caravan trading routes from Kano , Lake Chad , Gao , Agadez and Zinder . When Algeria was under French rul e the town was established as a military post, originally named Fort Laperrine , after General François-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.
© W. Robrecht - wilrob.org/cc-by-sa-3.0
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. On May 1, 1962, near Ecker, 150 km north of Tamanrasset, there was an accidental venting of a French underground nuclear test. Due to improper sealing of the shaft, a spectacular flame burst through the concrete cap and radioactive gases and dust were vented into the atmosphere. The plume climbed up to 2600 m high and radiation was detected hundreds of km away. About a hundred French soldiers and officials, including two ministers, were irradiated. The number of contaminated Algerians is unknown.
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.
Here you can find the complete
Overview of all Theme Weeks .
Read more on
Wikivoyage Tamanrasset and
Wikipedia Tamanrasset . Learn more about the
use of photos . To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Travel Risk Map -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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