Beni Abbes
|
Béni Abbès بني عباس |
|
|---|---|
| Commune and town | |
View of Béni Abbès
|
|
 Location of Béni Abbès commune within Bechar Province |
|
 Béni Abbès
|
|
| Coordinates: 30°4′48″N 2°6′0″W / 30.08000°N 2.10000°WCoordinates: 30°4′48″N 2°6′0″W / 30.08000°N 2.10000°W | |
| Country |
 Algeria
|
| Province | Bechar |
| District | Béni Abbès |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Mayor | Kebir Nadjib (2012-2017) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3,880 sq mi (10,040 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,585 ft (483 m) |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 11,416 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| Postal code | 08300 |
| ISO 3166 code | CP |
Béni Abbès (Arabic: بني عباس), also known as the Pearl of the Saoura, and also as the White Oasis, is a town and commune located in western Algeria in Béchar Province, 241 kilometres (150 mi) far from the provincial capital Béchar, and 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from Algiers.
It has been the capital of the Béni Abbès District since 1957. The commune's area is approximately 10,040 square kilometres (3,880 sq mi), with a population of 10,885 inhabitants as of the 2008 census, up from 8,850 in 1998, and a population growth rate of 2.1%.
Béni Abbès lies in the Saoura valley, on the left bank of the intermittent wadi called Oued Saoura. There are seven ksars (castles) in Béni Abbès, including a particularly large one found in a palm grove in the river valley.
The people of Béni Abbès are often referred to as Abbabsa.
Béni Abbès is written in Arabic بني عباس, Bani Abbas ("The children of Abbas"). C.Rames explains in his book Beni-Abbes (Oran Sahara): Historical, geographical and medical study (1941) that the origin of the name comes from the name of the tribe of the city's first occupant : "Forty years after the death of Sidi Othman, in the distant Saguia el-Hamra (Western Sahara), El Mahdi Ben Youssef from the tribe of Beni Abbes".
The name actually derives from the similar Arabic بني العباس, Bani Al Abbas ("The children of El-abbas"). El Ayachi wrote in his manuscript Arrihla al ayachia (1662) : "Then we entered the villages of Bani Al Abbas ...".
Béni Abbès is built on a rocky hill on the left bank of Oued Saoura. The city is bordered to the north, east and west by the Grand Erg Occidental and south and southwest by the valley of the Saoura. The most interesting mountains near Béni Abbès are in the Ougarta Range (around the oasis of Ougarta) found around 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the south and southwest.
...
Wikipedia