Thala, Tunisia
Thala
Tāla تالة | |
|---|---|
 Ruins at Thala | |
  Thala Location in Tunisia | |
| Coordinates: 35°34′N 8°40′E / 35.567°N 8.667°E / 35.567; 8.667 | |
| Country |  Tunisia |
| Governorate | Kasserine Governorate |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Abdelmagid Hayouni (Independent) |
| Elevation | 1,017 m (3,337 ft) |
| Population (2014)[1] | |
| • Total | 18,230 |
Thala (Arabic: تالة, romanized: Tāla) is a town and commune in Tunisia. It is located in the Kasserine Governorate since 1956. As of the 2004 census it had 13,968 inhabitants.[1] The altitude of Thala is 1,017 metres (3,337 ft), which makes it the highest and the coldest[2] town in the country.
History
The oldest records of the city was at the Numidian era when it was besieged by the Romans during the siege of Thala it was described as having a treasury of the Numidian King Jugurtha and also his family but they would eventually move from the city during the siege done by the Roman Metellus Numidicus during the Jugurthine war.
During the Roman Empire Thala was the site of a Roman settlement and was the seat of an ancient bishopric. It still has a titular absentee bishop (currently the auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Richard Umbers), who is appointed by the Pope.[3]
And the city saw during the Vandal and then the Byzantine era, the insurgency of Berbers tribes and by Antalas Chieftain of the Frexes tribe from western Byzacena and Thala area where the Frexes inhabited until becoming after the Muslim invasion of North Africa the Fraichiches (can also be written Frashish or Frachich) slightly changing name.
The Frexes/Fraichiche tribe would occupy the zone between northern Thala until southern Feriana and Thelepte but also Tebessa before called Theveste including Haidra before called Ammaedera aswell as Sufetula (Sbeïtla town) for more than 1 millennium and 5 centuries and also make several revolts against the authorities from the coast of Carthage or Tunis like during the Mejba revolt where that would eventually result in the raid of Thala and assassination of a Beylikal representative of the state. The Fraichiche tribe from Thala and Kasserine area, was the closest allies of the Majer tribe from where is from the leader of the Mejba revolt Ali ibn Ghahdahem born in Sbeitla also in the Kasserine governorate as Thala and considered a territory shared between the Fraichiche and Majer alliance, 3 years later in 1867 the city of Thala got a famine and epidemics the town population would eventually lose most of its population and several peoples of the Fraichiche tribe as well, having a description of decreasing from 13,500 to 3000 about the man's population.[4]
Thala was again plundered in 1881 when the Fraichiche tribe with severals others, tried to stop the advance of the French column of Forgemol coming from Tebessa moving until Kairouan for seizing the city and establishing the protectorate rule, the Fraichiches would eventually fail despite several intense battles and plunder Thala potentially to not let it being plundered by the French during an invasion and getting some resources.
In 1906, an attack by local Bedouin again from Fraichiche tribe due to the influence of an Algerian religious called Amor ben Othmane from Souk Akhras (Before called Thagaste birthplace of Saint Augustine) on the French civil administration offices during the Thala-Kasserine Disturbances was the first violent resistance to French authority under the protectorate during the 20th century with the Fellaghas also taking refuges in the mountains of Thala area or others ones.[5]
Thala was the scene of fierce fighting during World War II, in the late stages of the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. The 10th Panzer Division sought to exploit its early success against US forces. In a series of defensive actions on 21 February 1943, the British 26th Armoured Brigade, part of Nickforce, and the divisional artillery of the U.S. 9th infantry Division, arriving after an 800-mile forced march, blocked an advance by the German division's Kampfgruppe which, despite coming under the personal command of Erwin Rommel, were finally unable to make headway through fire from British tanks and artillery.[6]
Geography
Climate
The climate in Thala is cold semi-arid (BSk, according to the Köppen climate classification), with Mediterranean influences. Summers are moderately hot (by Saharan standards) and dry, and winters are chilly and wetter. Snowfalls can occur sometimes.
| Climate data for Thala, Tunisia (1981–2010 normal, extreme 1976–2017) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 21.2 (70.2) |
27.5 (81.5) |
29.9 (85.8) |
30.9 (87.6) |
38.2 (100.8) |
39.3 (102.7) |
41.0 (105.8) |
40.6 (105.1) |
39.1 (102.4) |
33.6 (92.5) |
27.1 (80.8) |
24.8 (76.6) |
41.0 (105.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.2 (48.6) |
10.6 (51.1) |
13.7 (56.7) |
17.2 (63.0) |
22.8 (73.0) |
28.4 (83.1) |
32.0 (89.6) |
31.4 (88.5) |
26.1 (79.0) |
21.1 (70.0) |
14.6 (58.3) |
10.4 (50.7) |
19.8 (67.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) |
6.3 (43.3) |
8.8 (47.8) |
11.6 (52.9) |
16.5 (61.7) |
21.4 (70.5) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24.4 (75.9) |
19.9 (67.8) |
16.0 (60.8) |
10.5 (50.9) |
6.9 (44.4) |
14.4 (57.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.5 (36.5) |
2.7 (36.9) |
4.5 (40.1) |
6.6 (43.9) |
10.8 (51.4) |
15.1 (59.2) |
18.3 (64.9) |
18.4 (65.1) |
15.0 (59.0) |
11.8 (53.2) |
7.0 (44.6) |
3.8 (38.8) |
9.7 (49.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −8.4 (16.9) |
−6.9 (19.6) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
0.4 (32.7) |
4.9 (40.8) |
6.9 (44.4) |
9.5 (49.1) |
6.3 (43.3) |
1.8 (35.2) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−8.4 (16.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 41.9 (1.65) |
28.1 (1.11) |
46.0 (1.81) |
42.9 (1.69) |
43.6 (1.72) |
31.1 (1.22) |
10.9 (0.43) |
25.5 (1.00) |
42.4 (1.67) |
32.2 (1.27) |
43.4 (1.71) |
39.6 (1.56) |
427.6 (16.84) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.5 | 5.4 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 5.5 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 3.8 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 61.4 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 74 | 70 | 71 | 67 | 63 | 55 | 47 | 52 | 60 | 67 | 73 | 73 | 64 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 161.7 | 170.4 | 209.8 | 224.5 | 275.4 | 304.1 | 343.7 | 306.2 | 237.2 | 211.9 | 176.5 | 155.8 | 2,777.2 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 53 | 57 | 57 | 58 | 64 | 71 | 78 | 74 | 65 | 62 | 58 | 52 | 63 |
| Source: Institut National de la Météorologie (precipitation days and humidity 1961–1990)[7][8][9][10][note 1] | |||||||||||||
Notes
- ^ The Station ID for Thala is 64646311.[11]
References
- ^ a b Recensement de 2004 (Institut national de la statistique) Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
- ^ "Thala, Thala Ouest, Thala, Gouvernorat de Kasserine, Tunisia". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
- ^ Donovan, Ned. "The bishops who've never seen their dioceses". Catholic Herald.
- ^ Khayr al-Dîn et la Tunisie: 1850-1881. Brill Archive. 1976. ISBN 978-90-04-04568-2.
- ^ Masri, Safwan M. (2017-09-05). Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-54502-0.
- ^ United States Army in World War II - Mediterranean Theater of Operations - Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative In the West, by George F. Howe, Department of the Army 1957 (pp. 464-466)
- ^ "Les normales climatiques en Tunisie entre 1981 2010" (in French). Ministère du Transport. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ "Climatic Data". Institut National de la Météorologie. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ "Données normales climatiques 1961-1990" (in French). Ministère du Transport. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ "Les extrêmes climatiques en Tunisie" (in French). Ministère du Transport. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ "Réseau des stations météorologiques synoptiques de la Tunisie" (in French). Ministère du Transport. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
