Douz

Douz
Douz
	Commune and town
	Douz during the Festival of the Sahara
	Douz Location in Tunisia
	Coordinates: 33°27′N 9°1′E
Country	Tunisia
Governorate	Kebili
Population (2014)
• Total	38,537
Time zone	UTC1 (CET)

Douz (Arabic: دوز‎ dūz) is a town in the Kebili Governorate in the south of Tunisia, known as the "gateway to the Sahara."[1] By road it is located 31 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Blidet, 125 kilometres (78 mi) southeast of Tozeur, and 475 kilometres (295 mi) south of the Tunisian capital of Tunis.[2]

History

It has been called the "ultimate palm oasis", because it has over 500,000 palm trees in the area, and it is a major producer of "diglat noor" dates.[3] In previous times it was an important stop on the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Today, it is a destination for tourists who are interested in seeing the desert, and a starting point for desert treks by camel, motorcycle, or four-wheel-drive vehicle.[3][1][4]

Desert oasis of Douz

Culture

Every year Douz hosts the International Festival of the Sahara, a four-day celebration of traditional desert culture. The festival, usually held in November or December, features traditional music and dancing, poetry readings, camel wrestling, and racing of horses and salugis.[5] Douz is home to the Museum of the Sahara, which showcases displays on traditional nomadic desert culture of the Mrazig people who now mostly live a settled life in the town.[5][6]

Gallery

Harvested dates waiting for further processing
Douz Hospital
Donkey cart

gollark: Logistics is not trivial.

gollark: I bought a watch. Do NOT insult my watch-buying acumen || <:bees:724389994663247974>.

gollark: End users, I guess? Why?

gollark: Even if end consumers are wrong often, which is plausible, the main supply chain probably has a better idea due to specialised domain knowledge.

gollark: Not really.

References

Trillo, Richard; Gregg, Emma (1 April 2011). The Rough Guide to First-Time Africa. Rough Guides Limited. p. 385. ISBN 978-1-84836-481-3. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
Google (28 January 2013). "Douz" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
McCloskey, McCloskey Joseph (14 October 2009). Memoirs of a Biker: Traveling the Long Road. Trafford Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-4251-1021-5. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
Hureau, Jean (June 1977). Tunisia today. Éditions J.A. p. 87. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
Fabbri, G. Magi, P.; Fabbri, Patrizia (20 January 2008). Art and History: Tunisia. Casa Editrice Bonechi. p. 103. ISBN 978-88-476-2177-0. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
Unesco field mission reports on Muslim countries: an annotated bibliography from 1947-1991. Vikas Pub. House. 1995. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-7069-9860-3. Retrieved 28 January 2013.

External links

Media related to Douz at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[TrilloGregg2011-1] Trillo, Richard; Gregg, Emma (1 April 2011). The Rough Guide to First-Time Africa. Rough Guides Limited. p. 385. ISBN 978-1-84836-481-3. Retrieved 28 January 2013.

[2] Google (28 January 2013). "Douz" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 28 January 2013.

[McCloskey2009-3] McCloskey, McCloskey Joseph (14 October 2009). Memoirs of a Biker: Traveling the Long Road. Trafford Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-4251-1021-5. Retrieved 28 January 2013.

[Hureau1977-4] Hureau, Jean (June 1977). Tunisia today. Éditions J.A. p. 87. Retrieved 29 January 2013.

[FabbriFabbri2008-5] Fabbri, G. Magi, P.; Fabbri, Patrizia (20 January 2008). Art and History: Tunisia. Casa Editrice Bonechi. p. 103. ISBN 978-88-476-2177-0. Retrieved 28 January 2013.

[Unesco-6] Unesco field mission reports on Muslim countries: an annotated bibliography from 1947-1991. Vikas Pub. House. 1995. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-7069-9860-3. Retrieved 28 January 2013.