Tan-Tan ( ar, طانطان, ber, ⵟⴰⵏⵟⴰⵏ) is a city in

Tan-Tan Province Tan-Tan is a province in the Moroccan economic region of Guelmim-Oued Noun. Its population in 2004 was 70,146 The major cities and towns are* El Ouatia * Tan-Tan Tan-Tan ( ar, طانطان, ber, ⵟⴰⵏⵟⴰⵏ) is a city in Tan-Tan Provin ...

in the region of

Guelmim-Oued Noun Guelmim-Oued Noun ( ar, ڭلميم-وادي نون, gulmīm wādī nūn; ber, ⴳⵓⵍⵎⵉⵎ ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏⵓⵏ, gulmim asif nun) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. The southeastern part of the region is located in the disputed ...

in southwestern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It is a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

town with a population (2014 census) of 73,209. It is the largest city in the province and second largest city in the region after the capital

Guelmim Guelmim (in ber, Agʷelmim, ⴰⴳⵯⵍⵎⵉⵎ, in ar, ڭلميم, also spelled in European sources: Glaimim, Goulimine or Guelmin), is a city in southern Morocco, often called ''Gateway to the Desert''. It is the capital of the Guelmim-Oued N ...

. It is located on the banks of 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 onl ...

Oued Ben Jelil, which flows into the

Draa River :''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest ...

north of the town. The Draa River at is the longest in Morocco and flows into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

soon after the confluence with the wadi. The town also has an airport, Tan Tan Plage Blanche Airport.

History

The

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

figurine

Venus of Tan-Tan The Venus of Tan-Tan (supposedly, 500,000-300,000 BP) is an alleged artifact found in Morocco. It and its contemporary, the Venus of Berekhat Ram, have been claimed as the earliest representations of the human form. Description The Venus of Ta ...

was found in a river terrace deposit on the north bank of the

. Dated between 200,000 and 500,000 BCE, it is considered one of the oldest human-form sculptures in the world, although its formation may actually be natural.

Port

The nearby port, known as Tan-Tan Plage in French; Port of Tan-Tan in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

; and El Ouatia, al-Watiyah or الوطية in

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 ...

is about west of Tan-Tan on the

. With a population in 2004 of 6,294 it is the second-largest settlement in the province and ninth-largest in the region. Both Tan-Tan and Tan-Tan Plage are on Morocco's main highway, the N1.

Climate

Tan-Tan 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'').

References

External links

Entry in Lexicorient
{{Authority control Populated places in Tan-Tan Province Municipalities of Morocco Provincial capitals in Morocco

History

Port

Climate

See also

References

External links