Béchar () is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

''(

wilaya A wilayah ( or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu, Pashto and ; ) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes from the Arabic root "''w-l-y''", "to govern": a ''wāli''—"g ...

)'' in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, located on the border with

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in the Algerian Sahara. It is the second least-densely populated province in Algeria, with a population of 353591 inhabitants in 2019, with a density of 2,19/square kilometers. Its capital and biggest city is

Béchar Béchar () 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 rate of 2.1% ...

History

The greater part of the province is dry plains (

hamada A hamada (, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky (basalt) plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by Aeolian processes#Wind erosion, deflation. The majority of the Sahara is hamada. Other e ...

s) suitable for grazing but with insufficient surface water to support agriculture. Most settlements are therefore concentrated in oases along the Saoura valley and its tributaries. Natural resources include

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

deposits in the north around Bechar and Kenadsa. The oases' traditional economic basis was agriculture, notably growing

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

s and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

. The inhabitants of several oases, notably Ouakda, Lahmar and Boukais, speak

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

languages, while the rest speak Arabic and Korandje. Many of the oases had significant populations of or Haratin peoples. There is a notable ''

zaouia A ''zawiya'' or ''zaouia'' (; ; also spelled ''zawiyah'' or ''zawiyya'') is a building and institution associated with Sufis in the Islamic world. It can serve a variety of functions such a place of worship, school, monastery and/or mausoleum. ...

'' (traditional religious school) at Kenadsa. The region also supported a substantial mainly Arab pastoralist nomadic population, notably the Doui-Menia and Ouled Djerir; most or all have settled in the oases. Trans-Saharan trade routes passing through this region played an important role in its economy in pre-modern times, but have at present been superseded. A small tourism industry exists, focused particularly on Taghit. Béchar, whose growth from a minor village began only in the early 20th century, has become the principal urban and administrative centre. The region has a distinctive musical scene influenced by sub-Saharan African rhythms, whose best known representative is the Gnawi singer Hasna El Becharia. Another locally well-known group is El Sed, from Kenadsa. Disagreements between Morocco and Algeria over their mutual border in this province and

Tindouf Tindouf () is the main town, and a Communes of Algeria, commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Algeria–Mauritania border, Mauritanian, Algeria–Western Sahara border, Western Saharan and Algeria–Morocco border, Moroccan borders. Th ...

led to conflict after Algeria's independence, the so-called Sand War. The province was created from the Saoura department in 1974. In 1984

Tindouf Province Tindouf, also written Tinduf (), is the westernmost province of Algeria, having a population of 58,193 as of the 2008 census (not including the Sahrawi refugees at the Sahrawi refugee camps). Its population in reality could be as high as 160,00 ...

was carved out of its territory. In 2019 Béni Abbès Province followed.

Administrative divisions

The province is made up of 6

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

and 11

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. The districts are: # Abadla #

# Béni Ounif #

Kénadsa Kénadsa is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune in the Sahara Desert of south-western Algeria, and is the capital of Kénadsa District, Béchar Province. As of 2008, Kénadsa had a population of 13,492, up from 11,667 in 1998, and an annual gr ...

# Lahmar # Taghit The municipalities are: # Abadla #

# Beni Ounif # Boukais # Erg Ferradj # Kenadsa # Lahmar # Mechraa Houari Boumedienne # Meridja # Mogheul # Taghit

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechar Province Provinces of Algeria States and territories established in 1974