Mzab

Mzab

(əmzäb`), stony, barren valley, Algeria, in the N Sahara. It was settled c.1000 by members of an austere Muslim sect, the Kharijites. The inhabitants, called Mozabites, dug wells, created date-palm oases, and built seven towns, united in a confederation. As traders, they made the area a caravan junction. France occupied the Mzab in 1853 and annexed it formally in 1882. It was transferred to Algeria in 1962. Water is pumped from more than 4,000 wells and 6 dams. GhardaïaGhardaïa
, town (1998 pop. 110,724), N Algeria. It is the chief town of the Mzab, a stony, barren valley of the N Sahara. Ghardaïa is a center of date production and of the manufacture of rugs and cloth. The city was founded in the 11th cent.
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 is the region's principal town.