Ksar Hadada ( ar, قصر حدادة), sometimes known as Ksar Hedada, is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in southeastern

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' was filmed here. The population at the 2004 census was 1298, and 1142 in 2014.

Geography

Ksar Hadada is surrounded by a mountain range. The village is also home to a valley between 25 and 50 meters deep called Gattar. Fossiles Ksar Hadada Tunisie

Several

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s have been found in and around the village.

Climate

The climate is

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

, as the

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

is only fifty kilometers away, and rain is rare but abundant when it does occur. Temperatures can reach 48°C during the day in summer and go down to 0°C at night in winter.

Architecture and education

Bibliothèque publique Mohamed Jilani Ksar Hadada 2016 1

mosque 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, ...

was built in the 1950s. There are also two cafés, a post office, a library, a football stadium and a dozen shops. The village has a kindergarten and a primary school. On the other hand, the

ksar Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: wiktionary:قصر, قصر ''qṣer'' or ڭصر ''gser'', plural ''qṣur''; Berber language, Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ ''aghrem'' or ''ighrem'', plural: ''igherman''), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is the Nor ...

does not have a middle or high school, but there are relationships established to link the village with the two middle schools and two high schools of the town of

Ghomrassen Ghomrassen ( ar, غمراسن) is a city of southeast Tunisia located from Tataouine and from Medenine. Administratively attached to the Tataouine, it is a municipality with 9,568 inhabitants at the 2014 Census. It is also the county seat of ...

Politics

Government

Ksar Hadada is run by a mayor and a village council. Seeing as almost all local government is located in Ghomrassen, projects concerning the village are discussed with the mayor of Ghomrassen and the town's council, and occasionally with the governor of Tataouine.

Elections

Economy

The local economy depends mainly on

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

cultivation as well as

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 ...

and

sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin an ...

. Most of the village's residents no longer live there and only return during the holidays; this emigration is caused by a lack of employment. Ksar Hadada remains strongly tied to the nearby town of Ghomrassen, as it is the seat of the municipality. Part of the

has been turned into a hotel where tourists can stay. An area was used by director

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

in the film Star Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menace to represent Mos Espa on the planet

Tatooine Tatooine () is a fictional desert planet that appears in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It is a beige-colored, desolate world orbiting a pair of binary stars, and inhabited by human settlers and a variety of other life forms. The planet was first ...

, the birthplace of

Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

Famous people

Amira Yahyaoui Amira Yahyaoui (born August 6, 1984) is a Tunisian entrepreneur, blogger and human rights activist. She was previously the Founder and President of Al Bawsala, a multi-awarded transparency and accountability NGO. Yahyaoui is a 2016 Young Global ...

(1984- ), activist and founder of the NGO Al Bawsala (daughter of Mokhtar) *

Mokhtar Yahyaoui Mokhtar Yahyaoui ( ar, مختار اليحياوي) was a human rights activist and a Tunisian judge. He was opposed to the system of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Yahyaoui was born on June 1, 1952 in the village of Ksar Hadada ...

(1952-2015), judge and human rights activist before the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

Zouhair Yahyaoui Zouhair Yahyaoui (; December 8, 1967 – March 13, 2005) was the first cyber-dissident to be pursued and condemned in Tunisia, a country that is often rated at the top of lists of Internet policing by independent third-party sources such as the Ope ...

(1967-2005),

cyber-dissident A cyber-dissident is a professional journalist, an activist or citizen journalist who posts news, information, or commentary on the internet that implies criticism of a government or regime. The practice of cyber-dissidence may have been inaugu ...

active in favor of freedom of expression under the regime of

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very smal ...

, dead following torture (cousin of Amira)

Tribute

An onshore oil field in the south of Tunisia is named ''Ksar Hadada''.

References

External links

*
Lexicorient
Geography of Tunisia {{Tunisia-geo-stub