Ouargla, Algeria

🇩🇿 Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, Arabic: ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune of Ouargla had an annual population growth rate of 1.7%. The commune of Rouissat is also found in Ouargla's urban area.

Historical Ouargla According to Ibn Khaldun the town was founded by Banu Wargla who, accompanied by sections of the Maghrawa and Banu Ifran, left the Tlemcen region and founded Ouargla. These Berbers of Ouarghla then embraced Ibadi doctrines, which later made the town an attractive refuge for the citizens of Tahert.

In the 11th century, Banu Hilal, an Arab tribe living between Nile and Red Sea, settled in Tunisia, Tripolitania (western Libya) and Constantinois (eastern Algeria) which was Ouargla party.

In the 19th century, the town was known for being on a caravan route to the south, and a starting point for exploring the southern Sahara.

Modern Ouargla The city was a significant tourist attraction until the civil unrest of the 1990s. Many tourists shopped for sand roses at the souk l'ehjar, the old rock market. The souq, or market, had many traditional shops filled with antiquities, traditional crafts, and local items - from dresses to stuffed lizards. The area across from these shops was used to display sand roses, mineral specimens, of all sizes and shapes. The market has gone through a renovation process.

Not far from the souk l'ehjar is the old groceries market, or the Sunday market as it is called by the locals. It too is located in the centre of the old city, La Kasbah. At its centre the original old market is shaped as a circle split into small arcs. The central circular structure is now a meat market, surrounded by rows of grocers' and farmers' stalls displaying all sorts of fruit and vegetables.

Next to the old groceries market lie the two oldest mosques of the city, "al-Masjid al-Atiq" which literally means "the old mosque", and the old Ibadi mosque, home to one of the most renowned Islamic scholars of the city, Taleb et-Tayeb.

Some of Ouargla's population speak the Wargli language, which is part of the Zenati languages subgrouping of the Northern Berber languages. There are Wargli speakers in N'Goussa as well.

Localities The commune is composed of 15 localities: • Mekhadma • Beni Thour • Ville de Ouargla • Saïd Otba Est • Saïd Otba Ouest • Ba Mendil • Bouameur • Bour El Haïcha • Sidi Amrane • Gharbouz • Sidi Boughoufala • Melala Ksar • Hassi Miloud • Zone d'Activité • Delalha (Sidi Amrane).