Oum El Assel (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: أم العسل, lit. ''mother of the

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

'') 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 district and province of

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 ...

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

. At the 2008 census it had a population of 3,183, up from 1,794 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of 6.0%. It is the least populated, largest, and least densely populated of the two communes which form the province (the other one being

). The town of Oum El Assel is located on the southern side of the N50 national highway northeast of

Climate

Oum El Assel 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 very hot summers and mild winters. Rainfall is light and sporadic, and summers are particularly dry.

Economy

One of its villages,

Hassi Mounir Hassi Mounir (also known as Hassi El Mounir) is a village in the Communes of Algeria, commune of Oum El Assel, in Tindouf Province, Algeria. It is connected to the N50 national highway by a long local road leading southwest of the village. The vil ...

, is one of the country's projects to introduce

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...

in Algeria, and has 42 houses connected to solar energy. The natural resources of the municipality (

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

, and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, among others) are still unexploited due to the existence of a large ''

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 ...

'' (rock desert) in the region. There are projects for the creation of a

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

factory, a freestone factory, and for a factory specialized in processing

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

products.

Education

2.4% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 13.1% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 82.5%, and is 91.1% among males and 73.5% among females.

Localities

The commune is composed of six localities: *Oum El Assel *

Hassi Khébi Hassi Khébi ( ar, حاسي خبي) is a village in the commune of Oum El Assel, in Tindouf Province, Algeria. It is located on the N50 national highway between Béchar and Tindouf Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and ...

Bou Bernous Bou Bernous is a village in the commune of Oum El Assel, in Tindouf Province, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital ...

*Bouagba *

Fort Lofti Fort Lotfi is a village and military base in the commune of Oum El Assel, in Tindouf Province, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , c ...

The military base of

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 = ...

also lies within the commune.

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{Tindouf Province Communes of Tindouf Province Cities in Algeria Algeria