Mozabite people
At Mzab بني مزاب | |
|---|---|
Mozabite in 1842 | |
| Total population | |
| 150,000–300,000 (2015) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| M'zab valley, Algeria | |
| Languages | |
| Mozabite and Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Ibadi Islam and Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Berbers |
The Mozabite people or Banu Mzab (Arabic: بني مزاب, romanized: Banī Mzāb; Tumzabt: At Mzab) are a Berber ethnic group inhabiting the M'zab natural region in the northern Sahara of Algeria, numbering about 150,000 to 300,000 people. They primarily speak 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 Mzabi Jews as well.
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.