City in Tunisia
Place in Tataouine Governorate, Tunisia
Ghomrassen (Arabic: غمراسن) is a city in southeast Tunisia located 26 km (16 mi) from Tataouine[1] and 40 km (25 mi) from Medenine.
Administratively attached to Tataouine, it is a municipality with 9,568 inhabitants as of the 2014 Census. It is also the county seat of delegation of the same name which had 18,335 inhabitants at the 2004 Census and 15,957 at the 2014 Census (National Institute of Statistics) and brings together, in addition to the city of Ghomrassen, the villages of Ksar Hadada, Oued El Khil, Elferch, Elhorria, and Ksar Elmorabitin Guermassa.
Geography
The city, located about 480 km (300 mi) south of the capital Tunis and surrounded by mountains, is built on the site of an ancient oasis. The majority of irrigation wells and the oasis disappeared with the urban development of the city.
The average temperature is 22 °C (72 °F). Annual rainfall varies between 88 and 157 mm (3.5 and 6.2 in).
Administratively, the city is divided into several sectors or Imad, whose authority is embodied by the omda, which can cover both urban and rural areas.
The city is divided into several districts: chare3 el joumhouriya, where the Market, a mosque sometimes considered the most luxurious historic city, Essned, the neighborhood where the primary school of March 2, and a mosque.
Ghomrassen is an Arabic speaking city, with many Amazigh words in the dialect. The accent is the southern Tunisian accent.
Etymology
Its name comes from the Berber roots ghom for "tribe" or "chief".[citation needed] A myth told by the inhabitants of Ghomrassen indicates that the city name comes from two words, Ghom Rassi نغم راسي, given by one seven brothers from the region of el-Hamra Seguia (northern Western Sahara) to 15th century to populate the south-east of Tunisia and from the confederation of Werguemma كنفدرالية ورغمة. This brother had settled in the location of the future Ghomrassen he later founded, while his brothers were scattered in the southeast of the country to achieve the key groups of people in the region: Wederni الودرني and Jlidi الجليدي founded Tataouine, Touzni التوزني Medenine and Ben Gardane, Houioui الحويوي Beni Khedach and Khzouli الخزولي Umm Ettemr. Finally, Tarhouni الترهوني is partly Libya and founded the city of Tarhounah.
References
- ^ Delegation of Ghomrassen. Tunis: Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Tunisia. 2004. p. 24.
