Laghouat

Laghouat is an oasis town and the capital of the Laghouat Province, situated 400 km south of Algiers in the Amour Range of the Saharan Atlas. Known for rug and tapestry weaving, it functions as an administrative and military center and marketplace on the northern edge of the Sahara Desert.

Tracing its history to at least the 11th century, the community was ruled by the Ottoman Turks in 1786 and annexed to the Beylik of Titteri. A historical turning point occurred in 1852 with the brutal Siege of Laghouat, which began on 21 November and concluded with the storming of the town on 4 December following resistance led by Sheikh Moussa Ibn Hassen El Misri that had begun in 1831. Subsequent massacres resulted in the death of about two-thirds of the population, an event known locally as the Khalya, and enabled French colonial rule to extend further southward until 1962.

Geographically, the settlement is built along the banks of the Wadi Mzee and experiences a cold desert climate with a population recorded at 134,372 inhabitants. The municipal region features natural gas deposits, and the nearby area of Hassi R'Mel contains the second largest natural gas reserve in Africa. Following Algerian independence, the departure of approximately 1,000 Europeans and 600 Jews was followed by rapid population growth driven by the oil and gas industry.