Kénadsa 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 the

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

of south-western

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

, and is the capital of Kénadsa District,

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 ...

. As of 2008, Kénadsa had a population of 13,492, up from 11,667 in 1998, and an annual growth rate of 1.5%. The commune covers an area of . There is a large longwave broadcasting station near Kénadsa.

Geography

Kénadsa lies at an elevation of on the flat rocky

hamada A hamada ( ar, حمادة, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation. The majority of the Sahara is in fact hamada. Other examples are Negev dese ...

west 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 ...

. The

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

Oued Meswar is located about west of the town, and meets 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 ...

near

Abadla Abadla ( ar, العبادلة) is a town and commune in western Algeria, and capital of Abadla District, Béchar Province. It is located on the Oued Guir southwest of Béchar. According to the 2008 census its population is 13,636, up from 10,8 ...

at the locality of Ksi Ksou.

Climate

Kénadsa 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 Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: BWh), with extremely hot summers and mild 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 t ...

is an important industry in Kénadsa. 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 th ...

, but only 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 67,000

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 3,757

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 ...

, 4,592

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, 1,507 camels, and 163

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 ma ...

. 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 adu ...

s in 22 buildings. There is some tourism in Kénadsa; attractions include sand dunes, palm groves, the old

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 ...

and forts, and the dam across the Oued Meswar. Visitors to Kénadsa typically stay in Béchar since there are no hotels in Kénadsa. There are also bituminous coal fields near Kénadsa. They were originally discovered in 1907, but mining activity did not begin until 1917. Output peaked in the 1940s and has declined since, due to competition from oil and gas fields in eastern Algeria. There are also deposits of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

and iron ore nearby, but these are largely unused.

Infrastructure and housing

100% of Kénadsa's population is connected to drinking water and to the sewerage system, 97% (including 2,707 buildings) have access to electricity. There are two fuel service stations in the town. Kénadsa has a total of 2,613 houses, of which 2,142 are occupied, giving an occupation rate of 6.3 inhabitants per occupied building.

Transportation

Kénadsa lies on a local road connecting Méridja to the west with Béchar to the east. Kénadsa is from Béchar and from Méridja. There is a total length of of roads in the commune.

Education

There are 4 elementary schools, with 65 classrooms including 48 in use. There are a total of 2,562 school students. 7.2% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 22.6% has competed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 84.6%, and is 91.2% among men and 78.2% among women.

Health

Kénadsa has 5 room care facilities and a maternity ward; for other health care residents must travel to

Culture

Kénadsa has a cinema with 350 seats. Notable authors born in Kénadsa include

Yasmina Khadra Mohammed Moulessehoul ( ar, محمد مولسهول; born January 10, 1955), better known by the pen name Yasmina Khadra ( ar, ياسمينة خضراء), is an Algerian author living in France, who writes in French. One of the most famous Algeri ...

, Malika Mokeddem, and Pierre Rabhi.

Religion

Kénadsa has 3 operational mosques, with another 2 under construction.

Localities

The commune is composed of three localities: *Kenadsa *Barrage Djorf Torba *Masky

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenadsa Communes of Béchar Province