Douz ( ar, دوز ') is a town in the

Kebili Governorate Kebili Governorate ( ' ) is the second largest of the 24 governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is situated in south-western Tunisia, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of and had a population of 156,961 at the 2014 census.Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, known as the "gateway to the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

." By road it is located southwest of Blidet, southeast of

Tozeur Tozeur ( ar, توزر, ; ber, ⵜⵓⵣⴻⵔ, Tuzər) is a city in southwest Tunisia. The city is located northwest of Chott el Djerid, in between this Chott and the smaller Chott el Gharsa. It is the capital of Tozeur Governorate. It was the ...

, and south of the Tunisian capital of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

History

It has been called the "ultimate palm oasis", because it has over 500,000 palm trees in the area, and it is a major producer of "diglat noor" dates. In previous times it was an important stop on the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Today, it is a destination for tourists who are interested in seeing the desert, and a starting point for desert treks by camel, motorcycle, or four-wheel-drive vehicle. Douz desert

Culture

Every year Douz hosts the

International Festival of the Sahara The International Festival of the Sahara is an annual festival held in Douz, Tunisia. History The festival, called the ''Camel festival'', began in 1910 when Tunisia was under French rule. In 1967 it took on its modern identity according to the w ...

, a four-day celebration of traditional desert culture. The festival, usually held in November or December, features traditional music and dancing, poetry readings, camel wrestling, and racing of horses and salugis. Douz is home to the Museum of the Sahara, which showcases displays on traditional nomadic desert culture of the

Mrazig The Mrazig are a previously nomadic people who live in and around the town of Douz, Tunisia. Numbering around 50,000, they are the descendants of the Banu Sulaym tribe who left the Arabian peninsula in the eighth century. They lived first in Egyp ...

people who now mostly live a settled life in the town.

Demography

The majority of inhabitants of Douz are from

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

descent (

Banu Sulaym The Banu Sulaym ( ar, بنو سليم) is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Is ...

) Douz is the home of

people.

Gallery

File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 4 - 002 - Une femme en robe brune traditionnelle avec un foulard blanc au marché - Douz, Kébili, Tunisie, 2-16 décembre 1997.tif, A woman in red traditional clothing on the market, Douz 1997 File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 4 - 003 - Une rue avec des maisons basses. Pylônes électriques. Trois femmes. Un homme sur un cyclomoteur - Douz, Kébili, Tunisie, 2-16 décembre 1997.tif, Douz street view with motocyclist, 1997 File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 4 - 005 - Trois dromadaires sur une plaine sablonneuse devant un village de palmiers - Douz, Kébili, Tunisie, 2-16 décembre 1997.tif, Three dromedaries, Douz, 1997 File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 4 - 008 - Un palmier dattier avec des grappes de dattes en plastique blanc pour les protéger - Douz, Kébili, Tunisie, 2-16 décembre 1997.tif, Date palmes with dates in plastic for protection, Douz 1997 File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 3 - 093 - Un marché de bétail avec des moutons et des chameaux, entre autres - Douz, Kébili, Tunisie - décembre 1997.tif, Dromedaries at a market, Douz, 1997 HospitalDouz.JPG, "Hôpital de Douz", Douz Hospital, 2007 Datellager in Douz.jpg, Harvested dates waiting for further processing, 2016 Donkey cart in Douz.jpg, Donkey cart, 2016

References

External links

Populated places in Kebili Governorate Communes of Tunisia {{Tunisia-geo-stub