Tabelbala

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

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

FieldValue
nameTabelbala
native_nameتبلبالة
native_name_langar
image_skylineFile:تبلبالة 2025.jpg
image_mapDZ-08-12-Tabelbala.svg
mapsize300px
map_captionLocation of Tabelbala commune within Béchar Province (pre-2019)
pushpin_mapAlgeria
pushpin_map_captionLocation of Tabelbala within Algeria
pushpin_mapsize300
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameAlgeria
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Béni Abbès
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_name2Tabelbala District
unit_prefMetric
area_footnotes
area_total_km260650
elevation_m518
population_as_of2008
population_footnotes
population_total5121
population_density_km2auto
timezone1West Africa Time
utc_offset1+1
website
::

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Tabelbala (, , Korandje: tsawərbəts) is a town and commune between Béchar and Tindouf in south-western Algeria, and is the capital, and only significant settlement, of the Daïra of the same name, encompassing most of the western half of Béni Abbès Province (part of Béchar Province until 2019). As of the 2008 census, its population was 5,121, up from 4,663 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 1.0%. The commune covers an area of 60560 km2, making it by far the largest commune in the province, as well as the least densely populated.

Tabelbala is notable for being the only town in Algeria to speak a language neither Arabic nor Berber, namely Korandje, which is spoken by about 3,000 people. Most of the rest of the population are descendants of twentieth-century immigrants to the oasis.

History

From at least the 13th to the 19th century, Tabelbala was a stop on the caravan routes linking southern Morocco (notably Sijilmasa) to the Sahel, in particular Timbuktu.

Geography

The oasis occupies a band of land between a stone mountain to the south and a large sand dune field, the , to the north. The water table of the latter is relatively high, making irrigation agriculture possible. The foggara system was traditionally used, but has been in decline since the early twentieth century.

Climate

Tabelbala has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with extremely hot summers and mild winters, and very little precipitation throughout the year.

| location = Tabelbala | metric first = yes | single line = yes | width = auto | Jan high C = 19.8 | Feb high C = 23.0 | Mar high C = 26.9 | Apr high C = 31.7 | May high C = 36.5 | Jun high C = 41.8 | Jul high C = 46.0 | Aug high C = 44.3 | Sep high C = 38.5 | Oct high C = 31.7 | Nov high C = 24.8 | Dec high C = 19.6 | Jan mean C = 11.9 | Feb mean C = 14.9 | Mar mean C = 18.8 | Apr mean C = 23.2 | May mean C = 27.9 | Jun mean C = 32.9 | Jul mean C = 37.0 | Aug mean C = 35.7 | Sep mean C = 30.6 | Oct mean C = 24.1 | Nov mean C = 17.8 | Dec mean C = 12.6 | Jan low C = 4.0 | Feb low C = 6.8 | Mar low C = 10.8 | Apr low C = 14.8 | May low C = 19.3 | Jun low C = 24.0 | Jul low C = 28.0 | Aug low C = 27.1 | Sep low C = 22.8 | Oct low C = 16.5 | Nov low C = 10.8 | Dec low C = 5.6 | Jan precipitation mm = 0 | Feb precipitation mm = 2 | Mar precipitation mm = 5 | Apr precipitation mm = 0 | May precipitation mm = 0 | Jun precipitation mm = 0 | Jul precipitation mm = 1 | Aug precipitation mm = 2 | Sep precipitation mm = 0 | Oct precipitation mm = 2 | Nov precipitation mm = 8 | Dec precipitation mm = 2 | source 1 = climate-data.org | date=March 2013}}

Localities

Tabelbala town is divided into four settlements. The administrative and commercial centre, "le Village" or "le Quartier", officially Haï El Wasat (), also simply known as "Tabelbala" itself, is a relatively recent settlement which first grew up around the French fort in the colonial period. It is flanked by three older villages, or ksars: Cheraïa (, Ifrenyu in Korandje) to the west, Zaouia Sidi Zekri (, Kwara) and the tiny hamlet of Makhlouf (, Yami) to the east.

The commune is formally composed of seven localities:

  • Tabelbala
  • Cheraïa
  • Zaouia Sidi Zekri
  • Makhlouf
  • Zeraïb
  • Boutbiga
  • Hassi Kharet

Economy

Agriculture is the main industry in Tabelbala. The commune has a total of 2155 ha of arable land, of which 1304 ha is irrigated. There are a total of 139,183 date palms planted in the commune. As of 2009 there were 3,549 sheep, 9,949 goats, and 4,810 camels. There were also 138000 chickens.

Infrastructure and housing

97% of Tabelbala's population are connected to drinking water, 100% are connected to the sewerage system, and 99% (including 2,527 buildings) have access to electricity. The city has a 3,048 kW power plant. There is one fuel service station in the town.

Tabelbala has a total of 1,083 houses, of which 625 are occupied, giving an occupation rate of 8.2 inhabitants per occupied building, the third highest in the province after Ouled Khoudir and Timoudi.

Culture

Much of the Korandje-speaking population of Ifrenyu claims descent from the Ait Isfoul sub-branch of the Ait Atta Berber confederation; there are also a few Tamazight-speaking families from the Ait Khebbach, another Ait Atta sub-group.

According to oral tradition in both places, the founders of Melouka, near Adrar, Algeria, were emigrants who escaped Tabelbala when one of its ksars was destroyed by Arab nomads, variously named as the Rehamna or Ghenanma, for non-payment of tribute. The Idaw Ali of Mauritania also claim to have lived in Tabelbala at an early period.

Religion

A number of reputed walis (saints) are buried in Tabelbala. In the main cemetery of Zaouia Sidi Zekri, imamaden, these include Sidi Zekri (the village's namesake), Sidi Larbi and Sidi Brahim (each said to be the ancestor of a family found there today), and a group of seven unnamed men, the seb`atu rijal (), as well as the sixteenth-century Islamic scholar Sidi Makhluf al-Balbali, who is also memorialised in a cenotaph in the hamlet named after him, Makhlouf.

Tabelbala has 4 operational mosques, with another 2 under construction.

Transportation

Tabelbala's only significant transport link to the outside world is a paved road connecting it to the main Bechar-Tindouf highway some seventy kilometres away. Tabelbala is 382 km from the provincial capital, Béchar.

There is a total length of 216 km of roads in the commune.

Education

There are 5 elementary schools, with 37 classrooms including 24 in use. There are a total of 1,104 school students.

5.1% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 18.0% has competed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 75.0%, and is 81.9% among males and 68.2% among females.

Health

Tabelbala has one polyclinic and 3 room care facilities. The nearest hospital is in Méchraâ Houari Boumédienne.

Notable people

References

Neighbouring towns and cities |Centre = Tabelbala |North = Abadla Hammaguir |Northeast = Béni Abbès El Ouata Zerhamra |East = Ougarta Kerzaz Ouled Khoudir |Southeast = Adrar |South = Erg Iguidi Desert |Southwest = Tindouf |West = Tinfouchy |Northwest =

References

  1. "Population: Béchar Wilaya". Office National des Statistiques Algérie.
  2. "Algeria Communes". Statoids.
  3. "Population, Area and Density per Commune". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  4. ''Une oasis du Sahara Nord-Occidental : Tabelbala'' by Francine Dominique Champault, Paris: Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1969
  5. ''Grammatical Contact in the Sahara: Arabic, Berber, and Songhay in Tabelbala and Siwa'', Lameen Souag, PhD thesis, SOAS, 2010
  6. Souag 2010, ''op. cit.'', p. 31
  7. "Climate data for: Tabelbala". climate-data.org.
  8. (19 December 1984). "Décret n° 84-365, fixant la composition, la consistance et les limites territoriale des communes. Wilaya d'El Oued". Journal officiel de la République Algérienne.
  9. "Distribution of Agricultural Land". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  10. "Plant Productions". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  11. "Animal Production". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  12. "Drinking Water". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  13. "Sewerage Networks". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  14. "Electrification". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  15. "Fuel Distribution". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  16. "Housing". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  17. Cancel 1908, "Etude sur le dialecte de Tabelbala", ''Revue Africaine'' 270-271, p. 304; Champault, ''op. cit.'', pp. 32, 142, 273
  18. Souag 2019, "[https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02953066/document Astronomy among the Ayt Xebbac of Tabelbala]", ''Etudes et Documents Berbères'' 42, pp. 215-219
  19. Champault, ''op. cit.'', pp. 31, 273
  20. Ould Khelifa 1998, ''La région du Tagant en Maurétanie : L'oasis de Tijigja entre 1660 et 1960'', Paris: Karthala, p. 71
  21. Champault, ''op. cit.'', p. 393
  22. "Mosques and Koranic Rooms". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  23. "Presentation". Site Officiel de la Wilaya de Béchar.
  24. "Density Kilometres". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  25. "School Infrastructure". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  26. "Number of Pupils". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.
  27. "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.
  28. "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.
  29. "Health Facilities by Commune". Official Website of the Wilaya of Bechar.

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