Tindouf Province
|
Tindouf Province ولاية تندوف |
|
|---|---|
| Province | |
 Map of Algeria highlighting Tindouf |
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| Coordinates: 27°41′N 8°8′W / 27.683°N 8.133°WCoordinates: 27°41′N 8°8′W / 27.683°N 8.133°W | |
| Country |
 Algeria
|
| Capital | Tindouf |
| Area | |
| • Total | 159,000 km2 (61,000 sq mi) |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 58,193a If including them it could be as high as 160,000 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01) |
| Area Code | +213 (0) 49 |
| ISO 3166 code | DZ-37 |
| Districts | 1 |
| Municipalities | 2 |
Tindouf, also written Tinduf (Arabic: ولاية تندوف), is the westernmost province of Algeria, having a population of 58,193 as of the 2008 census (not including the Sahrawi refugees at the Sahrawi refugee camps). Its population in reality could be as high as 160,000 because of the Sahrawi refugee camps. Despite the barren landscape, Tindouf is a resource-rich province, with important quantities of iron ore located in the Gara Djebilet area close to the border with Mauritania. Prior to Algerian independence, the area served as a strongpoint of several tribes of the nomadic Reguibat confederation.
The town of Tindouf was rebuilt near an isolated Saharan oasis in 1852 by members of the Tajakant tribe, but sacked and destroyed by the Reguibat tribe in 1895. It remained deserted until French troops led by colonel Trinquet arrived in the area in 1934 and attached the region to the French Algeria territory.
The province houses army and airforce bases for the Algerian military, and is strategically important due to its proximity to the Moroccan border, and its location at a four-country border crossing. From independence in 1956, the Kingdom of Morocco claimed the Tindouf area and western Algeria as part of Morocco. These claims are based on the allegations that until 1952, Tindouf was part of French Morocco and was administratively attached to Agadir, and promises made by parts of the Algerian underground during that country's war for independence. After Algeria's independence in 1962, Morocco's claim to Tindouf was not accepted by the new Algerian republic. This led to the 1963 Sand war, fought along the Moroccan-Algerian border in the Tindouf region, and also involving Béchar Province and Tlemcen Province, after Morocco claimed the area as its own following Algerian independence.
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Wikipedia