Alnif

Alnif
	Alnif
	Alnif
Basic data
State :	Morocco
Region :	Drâa-Tafilalet
Province :	Tinghir
Coordinates	31 ° 7 ′ N , 5 ° 10 ′ W Coordinates: 31 ° 7 ′ N , 5 ° 10 ′ W
Residents :	4,728 (2014)
Height :	885 m
	Alnif, town view

Alnif, oasis landscape

Alnif ( Arabic النيف an-Nif , DMG an-Nīf ; Central Atlas Tamazight ⴰⵍⵏⵉⴼ ) is a place with about 5,000 inhabitants and the main town of a rural community (commune rurale) with about 25,000 inhabitants in the south-east of Morocco in the province of Tinghir in the Drâa-Tafilalet region .

location

Alnif is a date palm oasis in a rocky and sandy desert-like environment southeast of the Jbel-Sarhro massif, about 69 km (driving distance) southwest of Tinghir and about 109 km southwest of Erfoud at an altitude of about 885 m . The climate is warm to hot; the sparse rain (less than 90 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter months.

population

Several villages with a total of around 25,000 inhabitants belong to the municipality, all of which are made up of Berbers from various tribal groups - v. a. the Aït Atta - to be inhabited. The colloquial language is a mixture of different dialects of Moroccan Tamazight , but Moroccan Arabic is also spoken from time to time.

economy

The population traditionally lives from the oasis economy , i. H. from small irrigated plots under the shady date palms . It was not until the second half of the 20th century that craft and service professions were added. The mining and processing of rock containing fossils also contribute to the local economy.

history

In the absence of written records, nothing is known about the earlier history of the place. Alnif has belonged to Tinghir Province since its creation in 2009; before that the rural community was part of the province of Errachidia .

Fossils

Alnif is located on the Ktaoua Formation , which is a fossil deposit of great importance in southern Morocco. For example, fossils from Alnif are trilobites from the Devonian (around 360 million years old).

Web links

Individual evidence

[1] Alnif - population development

[2] Alnif - map with altitude information

[3] Alnif - climate tables