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Ouargla (Ouargli language: Wargrən, ) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune of Ouargla had a population of 133,024 in the 2008 census, up from 112,339 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of 1.7%. However, including the commune of Rouissat, found in Ouargla's urban area, gives a total population of 191,136.
In the 11th century, Banu Hilal, an Arab tribe living between Nile and Red Sea, settled in Tunisia, Tripolitania (western Libya) and Constantinois (eastern Algeria) which was Ouargla party. After his vassality to the Ottoman Empire with a recognised autonomy since 1555, the area was conquered in 1855 by the French. In the 19th century, the town was known for being on a caravan route to the south, and a starting point for exploring the southern Sahara.
Not far from the souk l'ehjar is the old farmers’ market, or the "Sunday market", as it is called by the locals. It, too, is located in the centre of the old city, La Kasbah. At its centre, the original old market is shaped as a circle and split into small arcs. The centre circular structure is now a meat market, surrounded by rows of grocers' and farmers' stalls selling all sorts of fresh produce and fruits. Next to the old market are the two oldest in the city, al-Masjid al-Atiq, which literally means "the old mosque," and the old Ibadi mosque, home to one of the most renowned Islamic scholars of the city, Taleb et-Tayeb.
Some of Ouargla's population speak the Wargli language, part of the Zenati languages subgroup of the Northern Berber languages, and Wargli speakers reside in N'Goussa, as well.
The climate is particularly arid and not very rainy with clear skies most of the time. The rainfall recorded in the city of Ouargla is limited to only per year in average. The most rainy year lived in Ouargla was that of 1903 with . The most arid year was that of 1929 with 0 mm. The year of 1903, which was the rainiest in Ouargla, still had nine constant months with a rainfall of 0 mm, from February to October. January is the rainiest month with . August is the driest with .
Ouargla rarely sees days with a minimum temperature below 0°C. However, if one moves away from the urban area of Ouargla, frost is much more frequent in the periphery of the city. The record for the number of days below zero was in 1983 with 7 days during the month of January and 7 days during the month of December for a total of 14 days. The city sees an average of 5 days below 0°C per year. The winter with the most frost in Ouargla was from 1999 to 2000 with a total of 55 days. Snow is very rare in Ouargla, and only occurs in exceptional cases and in a small quantity. The lowest temperature recorded at Ouargla is on January 16, 2001, while the lowest maximum temperature is on January 27, 2005.
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