Ghardaïa

Ghardaïa (Arabic: غرداية, Tumzabt: Taɣerdayt) is the capital city of Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. The commune of Ghardaïa has a population of 93,423 according to the 2008 census,[1] up from 87,599 in 1998,[2] with an annual growth rate of 0.7%.[1] It is located in northern-central Algeria in the Sahara and lies along the left bank of the Wadi Mzab. The M'zab in the Ghardaïa Province was made a World Heritage Site in 1982, as a cultural property evaluated under the criteria II (for its settlement affecting urban planning even to the present century), III (for its Ibadi cultural values), and V (a settlement culture which has prevailed to the present century).[3][4] Ghardaïa is part of a pentapolis, a hilltop city amongst four others, built almost a thousand years ago in the M’Zab valley. It was founded by the Mozabites, an Ibadi sect of the Berber Muslims.[5][6]