TATA

oasis, southwestern Morocco. Situated in an arid region at the extreme northwestern edge of the Sahara, Tata oasis is located in a canyon watered by three wadis descending from Mount Bani, an outlier of the Anti-Atlas mountains. The oasis contains about 30 ksars (fortified villages) with houses built out of pink clay. The inhabitants of the region include the Shluh Berbers, a seminomadic tribe who live in fortified villages and graze sheep, and the Haratin, a people of mixed Negroid descent who live with the Berber pastoralists and earn their living as agricultural labourers. Crops cultivated in the region's date-palm settlements include olives, lemons, oranges, almonds, and carob. Pop. (1982) 3,142.