Mozabite people

Mozabites
بني مزاب
Photograph of a Mozabite, May 19, 1889
Total population
150,000–300,000 (2015)[1]
Regions with significant populations
M'zab valley, Algeria
Languages
Mozabite and Arabic
Religion
Ibadi Islam[2] and Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Other Berbers[3]

The Mozabite people or Banu Mzab (Arabic: بني مزاب) are a Berber ethnic group inhabiting the M'zab natural region in the northern Sahara in Algeria, numbering about 150,000 to 300,000 people.[1] They speak primarily the Mozabite language, one of the Zenati languages in the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. Mozabites are primarily Ibadi Muslims, but there was a small population of Jews as well.[4]

Mozabites mainly live in five oases; namely, Ghardaïa, Beni Isguen, El Atteuf, Melika and Bounoura, as well as two other isolated oases farther north: Berriane and El Guerrara. Ghardaïa is the capital of the confederation, followed in importance by Beni Isguen, the chief commercial centre.

  1. ^ a b Minahan, James B. (2016-08-01). Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World, 2nd Edition: Ethnic and National Groups around the World. Abc-Clio. p. 284. ISBN 978-1-61069-954-9.
  2. ^ "Mʾzabite | Berber, Algeria, Saharan | Britannica".
  3. ^ "L'Aménagement linguistique dans le monde: Page d'accueil".
  4. ^ Behar, Doron M., et al. "The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people." Nature 466.7303 (2010): 238.