FIGUIG

town, northeastern Morocco, located at the juncture of the Hauts (High) Plateaux and the northwestern edge of the Sahara. It is an oasis town, surrounded on three sides by the Algerian border. Consisting of seven ksars (walled villages), Figuig lies in a basin of the Wadi Zousfana that is nearly 3,000 feet (900 m) above sea level. In 1845, during the French conquest of Algeria, the town was designated as being within the Moroccan sphere of influence; it was conquered by French forces in 1904 and became part of the French Protectorate of Morocco in 1912. The population of the villages is of mixed racial origins, and both a local Berber language and Arabic are spoken. The town's date palms are not commercially important because of disease and the high elevation of the oasis; fruits and vegetables are grown mostly for local consumption. Water for irrigation is obtained from underground channels (foggaras) from a subterranean water table. The surrounding region includes a number of oases and, to the north, semiarid grazing land used by sheep and goats. The local industry includes the fashioning of pottery, the tanning of goatskins, the manufacturing of leather goods, and the weaving of fabrics. Pop. (1982) 14,542.