Douz | |
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Commune and town | |
.jpg) Douz during the Festival of the Sahara, 2010 | |
  Douz Location in Tunisia | |
| Coordinates:33°27′N9°1′E / 33.450°N 9.017°E /33.450; 9.017 | |
| Country |  Tunisia |
| Governorate | Kebili Governorate |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 34,221 |
| Time zone | UTC1 (CET) |
Douz (Arabic:دوزdūzⓘ) is a town in theKebili Governorate in the south ofTunisia, known as the "gateway to theSahara."[1] By road it is located 31 kilometres (19 mi) southwest ofBlidet, 125 kilometres (78 mi) southeast ofTozeur, and 475 kilometres (295 mi) south of the Tunisian capital ofTunis.[2]
It has been called the "ultimate palm oasis", because it has over 500,000 palm trees in the area, and it is a major producer of "diglat noor" dates.[3] In previous times it was an important stop on thetrans-Saharan caravan routes. Today, it is a destination for tourists who are interested in seeing the desert, and a starting point for desert treks by camel, motorcycle, or four-wheel-drive vehicle.[3][self-published source][1][4]
Every year Douz hosts theInternational Festival of the Sahara, a four-day celebration of traditional desert culture. The festival, usually held in November or December, features traditional music and dancing, poetry readings, camel wrestling, and racing of horses andsalugis.[5] Douz is home to theMuseum of the Sahara, which showcases displays on traditional nomadic desert culture of theMrazig people who now mostly live a settled life in the town.[5][6]
The majority of inhabitants of Douz are fromArab descent (Banu Sulaym)[7] Douz is the home ofMrazig people.
Media related toDouz at Wikimedia Commons
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