Tindouf
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Tindouf تندوف Tinduf |
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| Commune and town | |
Tindouf in the 1970s
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 Location of Tindouf commune within Tindouf Province |
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 Tindouf
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| Coordinates: 27°40′31″N 8°07′43″W / 27.67528°N 8.12861°WCoordinates: 27°40′31″N 8°07′43″W / 27.67528°N 8.12861°W | |
| Country |
 Algeria
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| Province | Tindouf (seat) |
| District | Tindouf (coextensive) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 70,009 km2 (27,031 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 400 m (1,300 ft) |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 150,000 (of which 45,966 are not people living in the Sahrawi refugee camps) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01) |
| Postal code | 37000 |
Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, Arabic: تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders.The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population estimates do not count the Sahrawi refugees making the population as of the 2008 census 45,966, up from 25,266 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of 6.3%.
The region is considered of strategic significance. It houses Algerian military bases and an airport with regular flights to Algiers as well as to other domestic destinations. The settlement of Garet Djebilet lies within the municipal territory of Tindouf near the border with Mauritania; the settlement has an iron mine and a defunct airport, and is approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Âouinet Bel Egrâ. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front, a national liberation movement seeking the self-determination of Western Sahara
The town of Tindouf was built near an isolated Saharan oasis in 1852 by members of the Tajakant tribe, but sacked and destroyed by Reguibat, a Sahrawi tribe in 1895, and the Tajakant tribe were expelled from the region. It remained deserted until French troops arrived in the area in 1934. Since Algerian independence in 1962, the town has been deliberately built up, partly because of its importance as a last outpost before the Moroccan, Sahrawi and Mauritanian borders.
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