Taghit ( ar, ﺗﺎﻏﻴﺖ) is a town and commune in Taghit District, Béchar Province, in western

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

. The town is an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentOued Zousfana, which runs along beside the dunes of the

Grand Erg Occidental The Grand Erg Occidental ( ar, العرق الغربي الكبير, al-ʿIrq al-Gharbī al-Kabīr), (also known as the Western Sand Sea) is the second largest erg in northern Algeria after the Grand Erg Oriental. It covers an area of approximately ...

. According to the 2008 census its population is 6,317, up from 6,047 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 0.4%. The commune covers an area of .

History

The town was the site of the Battle of Taghit in 1903, in which 4000 Zayanes Berbers besieged the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in the town, whom they outnumbered by 10 to 1. The attackers were later forced to retreat. Marabutto-Taghirt

Geography

Taghit lies on the left (eastern) bank of the Oued Zouzfana. The

, a large area of continuous

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

, lies to the east, while the rocky

Djebel Baroun : ''For mountains or other uses, see: Jabal.'' Djebel (1937–1958) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse, who won 15 of 22 races during 1939–1942 including the Prix d'Essai, 2000 Guineas and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was later a leading si ...

lies to the west across the river.

Climate

Taghit 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 Taghit. 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 137,450 date palms planted in the commune. As of 2009 there were 3,330

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 ...

, 2,995

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, 2,481

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 62

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 24,000

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 2 buildings.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

is also significant in Taghit due to many

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

rock engraving A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s in the area. Other attractions include sand dunes, palm groves, the old

ksar Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: قصر ''qṣer'' or ڭصر ''gser'', plural ''qṣur''; Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ ''aghrem'' or ''ighrem'', plural: ''igherman''), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is the North African term for "fortified vill ...

and the zawiya. There is one hotel in Taghit, the three-star ''Taghit''.

Infrastructure and housing

90% of Taghits's population are connected to drinking water, 96% are connected to the sewerage system, and 93% (including 1,485 buildings) have access to electricity. There is one fuel service station in the town. Taghit has a total of 1,551 houses, of which 913 are occupied, giving an occupation rate of 6.9 inhabitants per occupied building.

Transportation

There are three main roads out of Taghit: one leads northwest to the N6 highway ( Bechar- Adrar section) just south of Bechar, another leads southwest through Igli to the N6 further south, and the third leads northeast, also to the N6 ( Bechar- Mecheria section) northeast of Bechar, near

Figuig Figuig or Figig ( ar, فجيج; Figuig Berber: Ifeyyey) is an oasis town in eastern Morocco near the Atlas Mountains, on the border with Algeria. The town is built around an oasis of date palms, called ''Tazdayt'', meaning "palm tree" in the B ...

. A number of small localities lie along the Oued Zouzfana to the south; these are connected by a local road. Taghit is from the provincial capital, Béchar. There is a total length of of roads in the commune.

Education

There are 5 elementary schools, with 39 classrooms including 30 in use. There are a total of 1,310 school students. 5.9% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 18.4% has competed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 81.4%, and is 86.6% among males and 76.7% among females.

Health

Taghit has 4 room care facilities, and a private pharmacy, and a medical operating theatre. The nearest hospital (by road) is in Béchar.

Religion

Taghit has six operational

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

, with another under construction.

Localities

The commune is composed of five localities: *Taghit * Zaouia Fougania * Berrabi Bakhti *Zaouia Tahtania *Brika

References

External links

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{Authority control Communes of Béchar Province