Tataouine Governorate

Tataouine
ولاية تطاوين
Governorate
Moonlit landscape of Tataouine
Moonlit landscape of Tataouine

Map of Tunisia with Tataouine highlighted
Coordinates: 32°55′32″N 10°26′39″E / 32.92556°N 10.44417°E / 32.92556; 10.44417Coordinates: 32°55′32″N 10°26′39″E / 32.92556°N 10.44417°E / 32.92556; 10.44417
Country Tunisia
Created March 2, 1981
Capital Tataouine
Area
 • Total 38,889 km2 (15,015 sq mi)
Area rank Ranked 1st of 24
Population (2014)
 • Total 149,453
 • Rank Ranked 23rd of 24
 • Density 3.8/km2 (10.0/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+01 (CET)
Postal prefix xx
ISO 3166 code TN-83

Tataouine Governorate (Tunisian Arabic: ولاية تطاوين‎ Wilāyat Taṭāwīn) is the southernmost of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia, the only one to border Algeria and Libya. It is also the largest in covering an area of 38,889 km² and has a population of 149,453 (as at the 2014 census),[1][2] nearly tied for second least-populated with Kebili (156,961) after Tozeur (107,912). The capital is Tataouine.

This is where George Lucas filmed part of Star Wars, and a homophone of the city was chosen to be the home planet of the protagonist's family (Tatooine).[3]

Geography

Wells from aquifers dot the eastern slopes of the pronounced long escarpment climbing gradually from 100 m to 500 m in elevation two provinces north in the south extreme of Gabes Governorate, passing through a thin strip of Medenine and then at the heart of the province ending around a capital city Tripoli, Libya. The ridge attracts variable winter and early spring relief precipitation and little other rain and shares with the rest of the area a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) with long, extremely hot summers throughout (see North-south graduation of Tunisian climatic zones), the patchy and infrequent rainfall in winter is greater than the average for the Sahara Desert of which the area forms part. Approximately half of the escarpment exceeds 500 m in the province, the peak within Tunisia being 631 m near the town of Remada on the main road south of Tatouine leading into mid-eastern Libya. The tripoint of the three countries is close to the Libyan town of Ghadames which has surrounding it three airstrips, one of which constitutes an airport and one of which lies in Algeria. Close to the west or south-west border is El Borma Airport and the province has a second, which is for defence and rescue, Remada Air Base.

Administrative divisions

The Tataouine Governorate is divided into seven delegations and further divided into 64 sectors.[4] The delegations with populations from the 2004 and 2014 censuses,[1] are listed below:

Bir Lahmar Dhehiba Ghomrassen Remada Smâr Tataouine Nord Tataouine Sud
2004 9,2703,97118,3359,97713,82654,36233,783
2014 8,4604,29515,95710,17314,79361,43134,344

Five municipalities are in Tataouine Governorate: | 5311 | Tataouine | 66,924 |- | 5312 | Bir Lahmar | 7,955 |- | 5313 | Ghomrassen | 9,568 |- | 5314 | Dehiba | 4,295 |- | 5315 | Remada | 6,289

References

  1. 1 2 "2014 Tunisian census data". Archived from the original on 2015-05-18.
  2. ↑ (in French) Census 2014 (National Institute of Statistics) Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes (Platinum Level) (8th ed.). Prentice Hall, Inc. 2002. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  4. ↑ http://www.tunisieindustrie.nat.tn/fr/doc.asp?docid=605&mcat=12&mrub=105&msrub=205
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.