Abadla ( ar, العبادلة) is a town and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in western

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, and capital of

Abadla District Abadla is a district in Béchar Province, Algeria. It was named after its capital, Abadla. According to the 2008 census, the total population of the district was 21,133 inhabitants. Most of the population of the region is clustered around the Oue ...

Béchar Province Béchar ( ar, ولاية بشار) is the second least-densely populated province (''wilaya'') in Algeria, named after its capital Béchar. History The greater part of the province is dry plains (hamadas) suitable for grazing but with insuffic ...

. It is located on the

Oued Guir Oued Guir is an intermittent river or wadi that flows through the Drâa-Tafilalet and Oriental regions in southeastern Morocco and Béchar Province in western Algeria. Course The Oued Guir originates high in the Atlas Mountains northeast of t ...

southwest of

Béchar Béchar ( ar, بشار) is the capital city of Béchar Province, Algeria. It is also a commune, coextensive with Béchar District, of Béchar Province. In 2008 the city had a population of 165,627, up from 134,954 in 1998, with an annual growth ...

. According to the 2008 census its population is 13,636, up from 10,845 in 1998, and an annual growth rate of 2.4%, making it the most populated commune in Béchar Province apart from the capital. The commune covers an area of . It is a major centre for the Arab

Doui-Menia The Doui-Menia or Dawi-Mani` (Arabic ذوي منيع, Maghrebi Arabic /dwi-mniʕ/) are an tribe of the Moroccan-Algerian border between Taghit and the Tafilalt region, centered on Abadla in the Guir valley. They became prominent in the area with ...

tribe.

Geography

Abadla's location on the

allows the growing of grain, facilitated in recent decades by the Djorf Torba dam located upstream. The area south of the town is mostly a flat plain, but there are several rocky hills found to the north of the town.

Climate

Abadla has a hot

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''BWh''), with extremely hot summers and cool winters, and very little precipitation throughout the year.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

is the main industry in Abadla. The commune has a total of of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

, of which is

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

. There are a total of 23,350

date palms ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

planted in the commune. As of 2009 there were 9,814

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, 2,777

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s, 1,939

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

s, and 80

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. There were also 4000

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

s in 3 buildings.

Infrastructure and housing

100% of Abadla's population is connected to drinking water, 99% is connected to the sewerage system, and 83% (including 2,527 buildings) have access to electricity. There is one fuel service station in the town. Abadla has a total of 2,594 houses, of which 1,982 are occupied, giving an occupation rate of 6.9 inhabitants per occupied building.

Transportation

Abadla is on the N6 national highway between

to the northeast and

Adrar Adrar (in Tifinagh script "ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ"), a Berber word meaning "mountain", is the name of several areas in Northwest Africa: Algeria * Adrar, Algeria, a town in Algeria * Adrar Province, an administrative division of Algeria * Adrar District, ...

to the southeast. The town of

Méchraâ Houari Boumédienne Méchraâ Houari Boumédienne ( ar, مشرع ھوارى بومدين) is a town and commune in Abadla District, Béchar Province, in western Algeria. According to the 2008 census its population is 3,091, down from 3,133 in 1998, with an annual gro ...

is on the highway just to the south, while further to the south the towns of Igli,

Béni Abbès Béni Abbès ( ar, 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, far from the provincial capital Béchar, and from Algiers. ...

and others can be accessed. The N50 highway leaves the N6 to the west just to the southwest of Abadla; it eventually leads to

Tindouf Tindouf ( Berber: Tinduf, ar, 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 ...

, passing

Hammaguir Hammaguir (also written Hamaguir and Hammaguira) ( ar, حماقير) is a village in Abadla District, Béchar Province, Algeria, south-west of Béchar. It lies on the N50 national highway between Béchar and Tindouf. The location is notable fo ...

and

Tinfouchy Tinfouchy (sometimes known as Fort Fouchet) is a locality and military base in the commune of Oum El Assel in Tindouf Province, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = ...

on the way. The two other towns in

are Méchraâ Houari Boumédienne, which is from Abadla, and

Erg Ferradj Erg Ferradj ( ar, ﻋﺮق ﻓﺮاج) is a town and commune in Abadla District, Béchar Province, in western Algeria. According to the 2008 census its population is 4,406, down from 4,670 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of -0.6%, ...

, which is from Abadla and is accessible by a local road on the northern side of the N6. Abadla is from the provincial capital, Béchar. There is a total length of of roads in the commune. Abadla was the terminus station of the Mediterranean-Niger-Railway.

Education

There are 7 elementary schools, with 88 classrooms including 61 in use. There are a total of 3,190 school students. 5.9% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 21.3% has competed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 83.4%, and is 90.0% among males and 76.5% among females.

Health

Abadla has one polyclinic, 5 room care facilities, a maternity ward, 4 private pharmacies, and a medical operating theatre.

Culture

Abadla has a cinema with 200 seats.

Religion

Abadla has 4 operational

mosques A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

, with another 1 under construction.

Localities

The commune is composed of two localities: *Abadla *Ksi Ksou

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{Béchar Province Communes of Béchar Province Béchar Province