Kufra oases

Location of the Kufra oasis in Libya

Kufra oases, artificially irrigated fields, satellite image , 2002

The Kufra oases ( Arabic الكفرة, DMG al-Kufra ) are a group of oases in the southeast of Libya 950 kilometers south of Benghazi , with an area of ​​8793 km². They are eponymous for the Libyan municipality al-Kufra and accommodate a large part of its population. The center of the Kufra oases and capital of al-Kufra is al- Jawf (Al Jawf).

population

In February 2012, Kufra had about 40,000 inhabitants.

Migrants

In the desert, Kufra is a necessary contact point for refugees from the southern regions of Africa, who are mostly on their way to Europe with the help of people smuggling organizations from Sudan . That is why reception camps are under Libyan control and financed by the European Union through the Frontex organization . The migrants are mostly detained for months, their onward journey to the Mediterranean should be prevented. For 2004–2005, the Italian government made 5.2 million US dollars available for the further expansion of these facilities. Those affected describe the conditions as inhumane. A similar camp is in Sabha .

irrigation

In the 1970s, several large irrigation projects were set up in the area, best known for the circular fields that are artificially irrigated. The long-term future of the Kufra oasis is uncertain. In the last 30 years, the oasis was 4,500 to 5,000 year-old fossil groundwater from Nubian sandstone aquifer ( Nubian Sandstone Aquifer irrigated). Due to the prevailing hyperarid climate , almost no new groundwater formation takes place in this aquifer system.

The water level of the aquifer has been lowered by around 60 meters due to massive use in recent years. Officially, there is no longer any information about the water level in the oasis, as such a massive drop can also affect the neighboring countries of Sudan, Niger and Chad. If this overexploitation continues, the oasis could be dry in a few years.

history

origin

Originally, the oases of Nilo-Saharan were Tubu - Bedouin inhabited. Around 1730 they were expelled from Kyrenaica by attacks by Arabs and had to retreat to the Tibetan Mountains . In 1879 the German Gerhard Rohlfs succeeded as the first European to penetrate to the Kufra oases, but in 1895 these became the center of the Sanussiya order and were no longer accessible to European travelers.

Colonization

From 1911 the oases were a center of resistance of the Sanussiya against the Italian colonial rule . It was not until January 19, 1931, that Italian troops under Graziani were able to conquer the oases and finally break the Libyan resistance in Italian Libya . During the Second World War , they were forced to surrender in March 1941 by the Free French from the Chad area . The airfield built by the Italians is rarely approached.

Modern times

Several large irrigation projects were established in the area in the 1970s.

The area hit the headlines on August 27, 2008 when the hijacking of an airplane that took off in Darfur ended here.

After the civil war in Libya , fighting broke out in Kufra in February 2012 between the African-born Tubu and the Arab-born Suwaja , in which, according to the United Nations, more than a hundred people died. A spokesman for Suwaja said that fighters from the neighboring countries of Chad and Sudan had been resisted. At the end of February 2012, around half of the residents had fled because of the fighting.

Climate table

Kufra oases
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     0   20th 5     1.2   23 7th     0   27 10     0   33 15th     0   37 20th     0   39 22nd     0   38 23     0   38 23     0   35 21st     0   32 17th     0   27 11     0   22nd 6th Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: wetterkontor.de

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Kufra oases Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 20.3 23.4 27.4 32.8 36.5 38.8 38.0 38.3 35.2 32.2 26.6 21.8 O 31 Min. Temperature (° C) 4.8 6.8 10.3 15.3 19.8 22.2 22.8 23.2 20.5 16.6 10.7 6.2 O 15th Precipitation ( mm ) 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Σ 1.2 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 9.0 9.4 9.1 10.2 10.7 12.0 12.3 12.1 10.9 10.3 9.7 8.5 O 10.4 Humidity ( % ) 47 41 33 28 27 24 26th 27 31 34 43 48 O 34.1 Source: wetterkontor.de

literature

• Gerhard Rohlfs : Kufra. Journey from Tripoli to the Kufra oasis, carried out on behalf of the African society in Germany. Leipzig 1881 online  - Internet Archive .

Web links

Commons : Kufra  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Green spots in the desert - The Kufra project in Libya
• Satellite images of the current project D. February 18, 2008
• Desert of Hostility - taz - report on the situation in Kufra in early 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Meyer 1905 (Kufra is listed there as Kebabo ).
2. ↑ ^{a b} More than a hundred dead in fighting in southern Libya. In: The Standard . February 28, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012 . 
3. ↑ - Dirk Godenau u. a. (Ed.): Immigration Flows and the Management of EU's Southern Maritime Borders. CIDOB editions, December 2008, p. 55 ( Memento from April 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
4. ^ Libyan embassy stashed weapons in Athens in Die Presse on February 21, 2012.
5. ↑ Witnesses: Tribal clashes in Libya kill scores AP on February 21, 2012.

Coordinates: 24 ° 11 '  N , 23 ° 17'  E