Tindouf Province

Tindouf Province ولاية تندوف
—  Province  —
Map of Algeria highlighting Tindouf
Coordinates: 27°41′N 8°8′W / 27.683°N 8.133°W / 27.683; -8.133Coordinates: 27°41′N 8°8′W / 27.683°N 8.133°W / 27.683; -8.133
Country	Algeria
Capital	Tindouf
Government
– PPA president
– Wāli
Area
– Total	159,000 km2 (61,390.2 sq mi)
Population (2008)[1]
– Total	58,193
– Density	0.4/km2 (0.9/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+01)
Area Code	+213 (0) 49
ISO 3166 code	DZ-37
Districts	1
Municipalities	2

Tindouf, also written Tinduf, (Arabic: ولاية تندوف‎) is the westernmost province of Algeria, having a population of 58,193 as of the 2008 census.^[1] Despite the barren landscape, Tindouf is a resource-rich province, with important quantities of iron ore located in the Gara Djebilet area close to the border with Mali. Prior to Algerian independence, the area served as a strongpoint of several tribes of the nomadic Reguibat confederation.

Administrative divisions

Map showing the 2 municipalities

The province contains one daïra (district), Tindouf, which is coextensive with the province. The province and daïra has a population of 58,193 inhabitants.^[1] The daira is further divided into two communes or municipalities: Tindouf and Oum El Assel. It is the only province in the country which has only one daïra and it also has the fewest communes.

Sahrawi refugee camps

For the refugee camps in Tindouf Province, see Refugee camps in Tindouf Province, Algeria.

Strategic significance

The province houses army and airforce bases for the Algerian military, and is strategically important due to its proximity to the Moroccan border, and its location at a four-country border crossing. Together with Béchar, it was the scene of a brief Moroccan-Algerian border war in 1963, after Morocco claimed the area as its own following Algerian independence. (See below.)

From 1974, refugees from the contested Spanish Sahara started arriving to the Tindouf area, following an earlier wave from the 1958 unrest. This turned into a major exodus from 1975 onwards, when Morocco and Mauritania seized control of what was then called Western Sahara, and Algeria retaliated by allowing the Polisario Front, a nationalist Sahrawi movement, to use the area as its main base. The Polisario remains in the province, running the large refugee camps located south of Tindouf city.

History

The town of Tindouf was built near an isolated Saharan oasis in 1852 by members of the Tajakant tribe, but sacked and destroyed by Reguibat tribe in 1895. It remained deserted until French troops led by colonel Trinquet arrived in the area in 1934 and attached the region to the French Algeria territory.

Moroccan territorial claims

Main article: Greater Morocco

From independence in 1956, the Kingdom of Morocco claimed the Tindouf area and western Algeria as part of Morocco. These claims are based on the allegations that until 1952, Tindouf was part of French Morocco and was administratively attached to Agadir, and promises made by parts of the Algerian underground during that country's war for independence. After Algeria's independence in 1962, Morocco's claim to Tindouf was not accepted by the new Algerian republic. This led to the 1963 Sand war, fought along the Moroccan-Algerian border in the Tindouf region.

In a process begun in 1969 and finalized during the OAU summit in Rabat in 1972, Morocco recognized the border with Algeria, in exchange for joint exploitation of the iron ore in Tindouf. However, parts of Moroccan society and some nationalist political parties still refer to the Tindouf area as historically Moroccan territory, and the Moroccan parliament has still not ratified the border recognitio.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Office National des Statistiques, Recensement General de la Population et de l’Habitat 2008 Preliminary results of the 2008 population census. Accessed on 2008-07-02.