Tamanrasset

It was estimated to be up to 116,521 in 2019 and 140,955 in 2025. Originally established as a military outpost to guard the trans-Saharan trade routes. Surrounded by the barren Sahara, very high temperatures have been recorded here. Located at an oasis where citrus fruits, apricots, dates, almonds, cereals, corn, and figs are grown, despite the difficult climate. The Tuareg people were once the town's main inhabitants. A tourist attraction during the cooler months; visitors are drawn to the Museum of the Hoggar, which offers many exhibits depicting Tuareg life and culture. The city is served by Tamanrasset Airport and the Trans-Sahara Highway. • Illustration — Topographic map of the Hoggar Massif with Tamanrasset

• Name — Tamanrasset • Type — City • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Algeria • Subdivision Type1 — Province • Subdivision Name1 — Tamanrasset Province • Subdivision Type2 — District • Subdivision Name2 — Tamanrasset District • Established Date — 1905 • Area Total Km2 — 37713 • Population As Of — 2025 • Population Total — 140,955 • Population Density Km2 — 2 • Time Zone — CET • Utc Offset — +1 • Elevation M — 1320 • Custom Label Sec1 — PMA seats (as of 2007) • Custom Data Sec1 — 11 • Custom Label1 Sec1 — ONS code • Custom Data1 Sec1 — 1101 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 11000 • Area Code — (+213) 29 • Custom Label2 Sec1 — Climate • Custom Data2 Sec1 — BWh

This name is said to derive from "Imanrassaten"—the name of a noble tribe now associated with the Ajjers—which reportedly once inhabited the wadi region or used it to mark the boundaries of its grazing lands. Tamanrasset originated as the centre of a network of camel caravan trading routes from Kano, Lake Chad, Gao, Agades and Zinder. When Algeria was under French rule, the Catholic priest Charles de Foucauld built his hermitage here in 1905; he established the fort by 1915. Foucauld was shot to death outside his Tamanrasset compound by Sermi ag Thora under the command of El Madani ag Soba on 1 December 1916. As a military post, the settlement was named Fort Laperrine, after General François-Henry Laperrine's death in the desert nearby in 1922. On 1 May 1962, near Ecker, 150 km north of Tamanrasset, there was an accidental venting of a French underground nuclear test. Due to improper sealing of the shaft, a spectacular flame burst through the concrete cap and radioactive gases and dust were vented into the atmosphere. The plume climbed up to 2600 m high and radiation was detected hundreds of kilometres away. About a hundred French soldiers and officials, including two ministers, were irradiated. The number of contaminated Algerians is unknown. In March 2003 Air Algérie Flight 6289 crashed in the city. In 2010, the oasis town was the site of the Joint Military Staff Committee headquarters for combating Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb. The four-country Committee (Algeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania) intends to use Tamanrasset to coordinate their military activity in the Pan-Sahel.

Tamanrasset has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with very hot summers (which are moderated by its elevation) and mild winters. There is very little rain throughout the year, although occasional rain does fall in late summer from the northern extension of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

Tamanrasset is a centre of trade across the Sahara Desert and into neighbouring countries.

In 1991 there was a television downlink, but William Langawiesche stated there was "no decent postal service" and "no good road".

4.3% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 14.1% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 69.8%, and is 78.4% among males and 60.8% among females.

The commune consists of 14 localities: • Tamanrasset • Amsel • Outoul • Tit • Assekrem • Tahifet • Tarhenanet • Tagmart • Talan Teidit • Efak • Ihelfène • Tarhaouhaout • In Dalag • Izernène

In 1991 William Langawiesche stated that people from the part of Algeria on the Mediterranean Sea "criticize it as an austere place, where Islam is practiced strictly, alcohol is forbidden, and Arab women, even veiled, rarely venture onto the streets."