Adrar Province

Adrar is a province in southwestern Algeria, named after its capital Adrar. It is the second-largest province, with an area of 254 000 km², roughly the size of the US state of Wyoming. It had 401,297 inhabitants at the 2008 population census.
The provincial capital, named Adrar, serves as the administrative and economic center of the region. Historically, the province's oases have served as waypoints for Saharan caravan routes. These settlements are well known for their red mud-brick architecture and longstanding traditions in Islamic scholarship and desert agriculture.
The economy of Adrar Province relies primarily on agriculture, particularly date palm cultivation and cereal farming. Between 2021 and 2022, the area under cultivation increased by over 22%, with more than 20,300 hectares now dedicated to crops including durum wheat, barley, oats, and vegetables. The government has also promoted sustainable irrigation to support desert farming. Beyond agriculture, Adrar possesses mineral wealth such as phosphates and has been involved in limited oil and gas exploration projects. The University of Adrar, established in 2001, has been instrumental in expanding access to higher education and conducting research on Saharan ecology and indigenous cultures.
It is bordered by six other wilayas: to the west by Tindouf, to the northwest by Béni Abbès, to the north by Timimoun, to the east by In Salah, to the southeast by Tamanrasset, To the south by Bordj Badji Mokhtar, and to the southwest by Mauritania.
Adrar is composed of three natural and cultural regions: Touat, Gourara and Tidikelt, and 299 ksour.

History

The province was created from parts of the and in 1974.
On 26 November 2019, Adrar was split into 3 provinces: Timimoun, Adrar, and Bordj Badji Mokhtar.

Geography

Location

The province of Adrar is located in south-west Algeria. It is entirely located in the Sahara Desert.

Administrative divisions

The province comprises 6 districts and 16 communes or municipalities.
The following table shows the list of districts in the province of Adrar and all the communes in each district.

District	Number of communes	Communes	Area	Population
Adrar	3	Adrar Bouda Ouled Ahmed Timmi	9,423	64,547
Aoulef	4	Akabli Aoulef Timokten Tit	23,936	40,036
Fenoughil	3	Fenoughil Tamentit Tamest	20,970	24,532
Reggane	2	Reggane Sali	140,981	25,483
T'Sabit	2	Sbaa Tsabit	19,446	13,821
Zaouiet Kounta	2	Zaouiet Kounta In Zghmir	15,100	28,593

Districts

Communes

No.	Commune	Arabic	Population
01	Adrar	أدرار
02	Tamest	تامست
03	Reggane	رقان
04	In Zghmir	ان زقمير
05	Tit	تيط
06	Tsabit	تسابيت
07	Zaouiet Kounta	زاوية كنتة
08	Aoulef	أولف
09	Timokten	تمقطن
10	Tamentit	تمنطيط
11	Fenoughil	فنوغيل
12	Sali	سالى
13	Akabli	أقبلى
14	Ouled Ahmed Timmi	أولاد أحمد تيمى
15	Bouda	بودة
16	Sbaa	السبع