Tindouf

Tindouf تندوف
Commune and town
Tindouf in the 1970s
Location of Tindouf commune within Tindouf Province
Tindouf Location of Tindouf within Algeria
Coordinates: 27°40′31″N 8°07′43″W / 27.67528°N 8.12861°W / 27.67528; -8.12861
Country	Algeria
Province	Tindouf (seat)
District	Tindouf (coextensive)
Area
• Total	70,009 km2 (27,031 sq mi)
Elevation	400 m (1,300 ft)
Population  (2008)[1]
• Total	150,000 (of which 45,966 are not people living in the Sahrawi refugee camps)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
Postal code	37000
Climate	BWh

Tindouf (Arabic: تندوف, romanized: Tindūf) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has a population of around 160,000, but the census and population estimates do not count the Sahrawi refugees, making the population as of the 2008 census 45,966,^[2] up from 25,266 in 1998,^[3] giving the town an annual population growth rate of 6.3%.^[2]

The region is considered of strategic significance as it houses Algerian military bases and an airport with regular flights to Algiers, as well as flights to other domestic destinations.^[4] The settlement of Garet Djebilet lies within the municipal territory of Tindouf near the border with Mauritania; the settlement has an iron mine and a defunct airport, and is approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Âouinet Bel Egrâ. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front, a national liberation movement seeking the self-determination of Western Sahara.