Méridja ( ar, ﻣﺮﻳﺠﺔ, ''little swamp'') is a town and commune in Kénadsa District, Béchar Province, in western

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

. As of 2008 the population of the commune was 592, up from 532 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 1.1%. This makes it the smallest commune by population in Béchar Province. The commune covers an area of .

Geography

Méridja is located at an elevation of on the extensive hamada west of Béchar, about west of the

Djorf Torba Djorf Torba Dam is a dam in Kenadsa District, Béchar Province, Algeria, crossing the Oued Guir about west of the capital, Béchar. It is used for the purposes of irrigation and water supply. The area around the head of the dam features a number ...

dam on the Oued Guir. Some low, rocky hills rise both to the north and south of the town, but there are no significant mountains in the immediate vicinity of the town.

Climate

Méridja 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''), with extremely hot summers and cool winters, and very little precipitation throughout the year.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

is an important industry in Méridja. The commune has a total of of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...

, of which is

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been dev ...

. There are a total of 10,020 date palms planted in the commune. Animal husbandry is particularly significant; as of 2009 there were 1,758

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...

, 2,182

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of ...

s, 2,033

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

s, and 180

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

. There were also 52,800

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

s in 6 buildings.

Infrastructure and housing

100% of Méridja's population is connected to drinking water, 100% is connected to the sewerage system, but only 81% (including 135 buildings) have access to electricity, the equal lowest rate of electrification in the province with El Ouata. There are no fuel service stations in the town; the nearest is in Kénadsa. Méridja has a total of 148 houses, of which 103 are occupied, giving an occupation rate of 5.7 inhabitants per occupied building.

Transportation

A road leads west out of the town past the

dam to Kénadsa and the provincial capital Béchar, which is away. There is a total length of of roads in the commune.

Education

There is 1 elementary school, with 6 classrooms, all of which are in use. There are a total of 103 school students. Secondary students must travel to Kénadsa to study. 2.6% of the population has a tertiary education (the second lowest in the province), and another 11.9% has competed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 76.6%, and is 83.3% among males and 68.0% among females.

Health

Méridja has 2 polyclinics and a room care facility. The nearest hospital is in Béchar.

Religion

Méridja has one operational

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...

Sports

The town is home to

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club

JS Saoura Jeunesse Sportive de la Saoura ( ar, الشبيبة الرياضية للساورة), known simply as JS Saoura or JSS for short, is an Algerian football club founded in the town of Méridja in the Béchar Province. They take their name from the ...

which currently plays in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1.

Localities

The commune is composed of two localities: *Meridja *Tibarbatine

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meridja Communes of Béchar Province