Tazerbu | |
|---|---|
  Tazerbu Location in Libya | |
| Coordinates: 25°39′51.49″N 21°02′42.94″E / 25.6643028°N 21.0452611°E | |
| Country |  Libya |
| Region | Cyrenaica |
| District | Kufra |
| Population (2006)[1] | |
• Total | 6,600 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
Tazerbu (Arabic: تازربو) is an oasis located in the Libyan Desert in the Kufra District of Libya, about 250 km to the northwest of Kufra.[2] The name means "main seat" in the Toubou language, because this was the seat of the Toubou Sultanate before the Arab conquest.[2] The oasis is 25–30 km long and 10 km wide. In the middle of the oasis and parallel to it runs a shallow valley with salt ponds and salines. In Tazerbu there are about ten villages: the most important is called El-Jezeera.[2] In the oasis grow groups of palms, tamarisks, acacias, esparto and Juncus.[2] Several kilometers to the north of this village lie the ruins of an old castle, named Gasr Giránghedi, which was the seat of the Sultan.[2] The first European to visit the oasis was the German geographer and explorer Gerhard Rohlfs in August 1879.[2]