Tafraout
تافراوت
Town
Tafraout is located in Morocco
Tafraout
Tafraout
Location in Morocco
Coordinates: 29°43′N 8°58′W / 29.717°N 8.967°W / 29.717; -8.967
Country Morocco
RegionSouss-Massa
ProvinceTiznit Province
Population
 (2004)
 • Total4,931
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (WEST)

Tafraout (Arabic: تافراوت), also Tafraoute,[1] is a town in Tiznit Province, Souss-Massa region, Morocco. Situated in the central part of the Anti-Atlas mountains, a mountain range in Morocco which is part of the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of Africa, the town has a population of 4,931 at the 2004 census.[2]

Name and etymology

The basic meaning of the Shilha feminine noun tafrawt is "basin or cistern in which water drawn from a well is poured", with a derived meaning "valley".[3] The centre of the town of Tafraout is actually situated in a small valley, at the foot of Djebel Lekest, a pink granite mountain formed by erosion.[4] A male inhabitant is called in Shilha "u Tfrawt", (plural "ayt Tfrawt"); a female inhabitant is "ult Tfrawt", (plural "ist Tfrawt").[5]

The area is surrounded by mountains and olive and almond groves, as well as argan and fig trees.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Tafraoute travel". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  2. ^ "World Gazetteer". Archived from the original on 2013-01-05.
  3. ^ See Laoust (1936:123) "bassin ; citerne où s'accumule l'eau tirée d'un puits ou amenée d'une source"; Destaing (1938:288) "vallée".
  4. ^ Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. p. 364. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.
  5. ^ Tfrawt is the annexed state of the noun Tafrawt; see the article Shilha language, section Prefixed nouns.

References

External links

29°43′N 8°58′W / 29.717°N 8.967°W / 29.717; -8.967

Souss-Massa region
Tiznit Province
Categories