Thala ( ar, تالة, translit=Tāla) is a town and commune in

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

. It is located in the

Kasserine Governorate Kasserine Governorate ( ar, ولاية الڨصرين ' ), sometimes spelt ''Casrein'', is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is in west-central Tunisia on the frontier with Algeria, wholly north of the true centre lin ...

since 1956. As of the 2004 census it had inhabitants. The altitude of Thala is , which makes it the highest and the coldest town in the country.

History

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

Thala was the site of a Roman settlement and was the seat of an ancient

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. It still has a titular absentee bishop (currently the auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Richard Umbers), who is appointed by the Pope. In 1906, an attack by local bedouin on the French civil administration offices during the Thala-Kasserine Disturbances was the first violent resistance to French authority under the

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

. Thala was the scene of fierce fighting during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, in the late stages of the

Battle of the Kasserine Pass The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a series of battles of the Tunisian campaign of World War II that took place in February 1943 at Kasserine Pass, a gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia. The Axis forces, ...

. The 10th Panzer Division sought to exploit its early success against US forces. In a series of defensive actions on 21 February 1943, the British 26th Armoured Brigade, part of Nickforce, and the divisional artillery of the U.S. 9th infantry Division, arriving after an 800-mile forced march, blocked an advance by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

division's ''Kampfgruppe'' which, despite coming under the personal command of Erwin Rommel, were finally unable to make headway through fire from

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

tanks and

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

.United States Army in World War II - Mediterranean Theater of Operations - Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative In the West, by George F. Howe, Department of the Army 1957 (pp. 464-466)
/ref>

Geography

Climate

The climate in Thala is cold semi-arid (''BSk'', according to the

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 ...

), with

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

influences. Summers are moderately hot (by Saharan standards) and dry, and winters are chilly and wetter.

Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

falls can occur sometimes.

Notes

References

Populated places in Kasserine Governorate Communes of Tunisia Roman towns and cities in Tunisia Ancient Berber cities {{Tunisia-geo-stub