Reggane

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title: "Reggane" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["communes-of-adrar-province", "nuclear-test-sites", "french-nuclear-test-sites", "spaceports", "cities-in-algeria"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggane" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Reggane
native_name	رقان
native_name_lang	ar
settlement_type	Commune and town
image_skyline	Tanezrouft-Reggane(1990).jpg
image_map	dz - Reggane (wilaya d'Adrar) location map.svg
mapsize	200px
map_caption	Location of Reggane Commune within Adrar Province
pushpin_map	Algeria
pushpin_map_caption	Location of Reggane within Algeria
pushpin_mapsize	300
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Algeria
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Adrar Province
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Reggane District
population_as_of	2008
population_total	20402
timezone	CET
utc_offset	+1
coordinates
elevation_m	217
::

History

Reggane has long functioned as an important crossroads point and oasis for trans-Saharan trade routes. Ancient Arabs and/or Berbers also knew of diamonds in the area, calling the area Bilād al-mās (ﺱﺎﻣﻟﺍ, “country of the diamond”).

French nuclear testing

The Évian Accords, which outlined the terms of Algerian independence in 1962, granted France the rights to continue military testing on Algerian soil. To the east of Reggane there was, until 1965, a rocket launching site where numerous civilian and military ballistic rockets were launched. France began its nuclear testing program in the vicinity of Reggane, conducting four such tests during the Algerian War in 1960 and 1961, before independence, and several after. The French government claimed the tests were taking place in an uninhabited area, yet thousands of people lived in the radiation zone and were not warned properly about the tests. The French also did not properly dispose of the irradiated objects from the tests, which were soon uncovered by the desert winds. Since then, the local populations have dealt with significantly higher rates of liver, skin, and stomach cancers, as well as blindness and babies being born with atrophied limbs.

Geography

The town of Reggane and its neighbouring villages lie next to the southernmost oasis of the Tuat region, which stretches northward to Adrar. The Tidikelt region, a plain with isolated oases, lies to the east, including towns such as In Salah, In Ghar, Aoulef and Tit. To the west is the sandy Erg Chech desert, while to the south lies the vast barren plain of the Tanezrouft.

Climate

Reggane has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with long, extremely hot summers and short, very warm winters. The climate is torrid and almost rainless. Daytime temperatures consistently approach 50 °C (122 °F) in summer and nighttime temperatures routinely remain above 30 °C (86 °F). Average annual rainfall is extremely low, with only 10 mm (0.39 in). The sky is always clear and sunny throughout the year. The area in the heart of the Algerian Desert bounded by Adrar - Reggane - In Salah is nicknamed the "triangle of fire" by local inhabitants due to the extreme heat that bakes the region from May to September.

|location = Reggane Airport |metric first = yes |single line = yes |Jan high C = 22.6 |Feb high C = 25.2 |Mar high C = 31.9 |Apr high C = 36.4 |May high C = 40.2 |Jun high C = 44.1 |Jul high C = 46.9 |Aug high C = 45.5 |Sep high C = 42.3 |Oct high C = 35.8 |Nov high C = 28.7 |Dec high C = 24.9 |year high C = 35.59 |Jan mean C = 16.0 |Feb mean C = 18.2 |Mar mean C = 23.1 |Apr mean C = 27.9 |May mean C = 32.2 |Jun mean C = 36.4 |Jul mean C = 39.8 |Aug mean C = 38.4 |Sep mean C = 35.5 |Oct mean C = 29.2 |Nov mean C = 22.0 |Dec mean C = 17.8 |year mean C = 28.34 |Jan low C = 9.4 |Feb low C = 11.3 |Mar low C = 15.9 |Apr low C = 20.6 |May low C = 24.8 |Jun low C = 29.0 |Jul low C = 32.8 |Aug low C = 31.6 |Sep low C = 28.7 |Oct low C = 22.5 |Nov low C = 15.3 |Dec low C = 11.2 |year low C = 21.1 |Jan precipitation mm = 1.4 |Feb precipitation mm = 1.1 |Mar precipitation mm = 1.2 |Apr precipitation mm = 1.6 |May precipitation mm = 0.5 |Jun precipitation mm = 0.1 |Jul precipitation mm = 0.0 |Aug precipitation mm = 0.5 |Sep precipitation mm = 0.2 |Oct precipitation mm = 1.2 |Nov precipitation mm = 0.5 |Dec precipitation mm = 1.8 |source 1 = Global climatology for Reggane, Algeria (2000 - 2015){{cite web |url=http://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie/globale/reggane-airport-adr/60645.html |title= Global climatology for Reggane, Algeria (2000 - 2015) |access-date=31 May 2013}} |date=May 2013}}

Transportation

Reggane is the last town on the Tanezrouft track heading south across the Sahara Desert to Mali. Customs and police inspection here are mandatory before crossing the Sahara Desert. The Tanezrouft track is the southern part of Algeria's N6 national highway, which connects to Adrar to the north and Bordj Badji Mokhtar to the south. Another highway, the N52, leads through the Tidikelt region to Aoulef and eventually In Salah.

The town is served by Reggane Airport, located about 10 km east of the town.

Education

6.0% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 15.6% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 75.9%, and is 85.0% among males and 66.3% among females.

Localities

As of 1984, the commune was composed of 11 localities:

Bahou
El Mestour
Zaouit Lahchef
Anzeglouf
Aït Massaoud
En Nefis
Timadanine
Taarabt
Tinoufel Djedida
Tinoufel Elgadima
Zaouit Reggani
Taourirt
Berriche

References

"Population: Wilaya d'Adrar". Office National des Statistiques Algérie.
"Algeria Communes". Statoids.
www.wisdomlib.org. (2025-11-13). "Reggane (city information)".
Godard, Gaston. (2014-07-01). "First African diamonds discovered in Algeria by the ancient Arabo-Berbers: History and insight into the source rocks". Comptes Rendus Geoscience.
"Database of nuclear tests, France".
"TRT World - 61 years later, Algerians still suffer from France's atomic legacy".
"3ème Groupe de Transport".
"Reggane Airport". OurAirports.
"Structure relative de la population résidente des ménages ordinaires et collectifs âgée de 6 ans et plus selon le niveau d'instruction et la commune de résidence.". Office National des Statistiques Algérie.
"Taux d'analphabétisme et taux d'alphabétisation de la population âgée de 15 ans et plus, selon le sexe et la commune de résidence .". Office National des Statistiques Algérie.
(19 December 1984). "Décret n° 84-365, fixant la composition, la consistance et les limites territoriale des communes. Wilaya d'Adrar". Journal officiel de la République Algérienne.

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