In Amenas (, ''‘In ’Amanās'') 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 eastern

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

, bordering with

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. The town is located west of the border. There is no border crossing in the area. The municipality had 7,385 inhabitants in 2008, up from 5.302 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 3.4% According to the Algerian novelist

Mouloud Mammeri Mouloud Mammeri () was an Algerian writer, anthropologist and linguist. Biography He was born on December 28, 1917, in Ait Yenni, in Tizi Ouzou Province, French Algeria. He attended a primary school in his native village, then emigrated to ...

the name is a

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Al ...

word which means "place of camel drivers." The natural gas facility near the municipality was attacked by Islamist militants in January 2013.

Climate

In Amenas 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, nota ...

''BWh''). Summers are long and very hot with averages high temperatures over 40 °C (104 °F) during June, July and August. Winters remain warm and brief at daytime but nights can be quite cold, with averages low temperatures below 4 °C (39.2 °F) during January, the coolest month of the year. In Amenas averages annual rainfall of only 23.2 mm (0.91 in) as the town is located within the large central hyperarid core of the

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

. The sky is always clear over In Amenas throughout the year and the relative humidity is very low, especially during summer months. German Climate In Amenas

Transport

It is served by In Amenas Airport with

Air Algérie Air Algérie SpA ( ar, الخطوط الجوية الجزائرية, ; ber, Aeriverdan idzayriyen) is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the Immeuble El-Djazair in Algiers. With flights operating from Houari Boumedienne Airpor ...

flights to

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

Hassi Messaoud Hassi Messaoud ( ar, حاسي مسعود) is a town in Ouargla Province, eastern Algeria, located southeast of Ouargla. As of 2008 it had a population of 45,147 people, up from 40,360 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of 1.1%, the low ...

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

and

Ouargla Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune o ...

and

Tassili Airlines Tassili Airlines ( ar, طيران الطاسيلي) is an Algerian passenger airline, based in Algiers, owned by Sonatrach, the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1998, Tassili now provides scheduled services out of Houari Bo ...

flights to Adrar,

El Golea El Menia () is an oasis town and commune, and capital of El Ménia District, in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. The former name is El Goléa (); together in Arabic, the two names mean ''Impregnable Castle''. According to the 2008 census it has a ...

El Oued El Oued ( ar, اﻟﻮادي, ber, Suf meaning ''the River''), Souf or Oued Souf is a city, and the capital of El Oued Province, in Algeria. The oasis town is watered by an underground river, hence its name is El Oued which enables date palm culti ...

In Salah In Salah or officially Aïn Salah ( ar, عين صالح) is the oasis town in central Algeria that is the capital of the In Salah Province and In Salah District. It was once an important trade link of the trans-Saharan caravan route. As of the 20 ...

Tébessa Tébessa or Tebessa ( ar, تبسة ''Tibissa'', ''Tbessa'' or ''Tibesti''), the classical Theveste, is the capital city of Tébessa Province region of northeastern Algeria. It hosts several historical landmarks, the most important one being the ...

and

Touggourt Touggourt ( ar, ﺗﻗﺮت or تڤرت; ber, ⵜⵓⴳⵓⵔⵜ, Tugurt, lit=the gateway or 'the gate') is a city and commune, former sultanate and capital of Touggourt District, in Touggourt Province, Algeria, built next to an oasis in the Sa ...

Economy

Natural gas

In Amenas is the starting point of the In Amenas-Haoud El Hamra oil pipeline and the In Amenas-Hassi Messaoud gas pipeline. The

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

joint development project (known as the In Amenas Gas Project) which includes four primary gas fields plus the gathering and processing facilities in Tiguentourine, outside the town, was commissioned in 2006. The project is operated by

Sonatrach Sonatrach ( ar, سوناطراك; french: Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is ...

, BP, and

Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. ...

. Zarzaitine is one of the notable sites Sonatrach is operating in the area.

History

In January 2013 the Tigantourine gas facility was attacked by Islamist militants. At least 39 foreign hostages, along with an Algerian security guard, were killed when the facility was stormed after a four day stand-off. A total of 685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners were freed. It was one of many attacks in the Maghreb carried out by Islamist groups since 2002.

Education

7.0% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 16.9% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 80.0%, and is 85.0% among males and 72.8% among females.

Localities

The commune is composed of eight localities: *Centre CIS *Zone Industrielle * Zarzaitine * Edjeleh *Elhadeb *Larache *Saut du Mouflon *

Ohanet Ohanet is an industrial village in the commune of In Amenas, in In Amenas District, Illizi Province, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 ...

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{DEFAULTSORT:In Amenas In Amenas District Communes of Illizi Province