Awjila

Awjila (Berber: Awilan, Awjila, Awgila; Arabic: أوجلة‎; Latin: Augila) is an oasis town in the Al Wahat District in the Cyrenaica region of northeastern Libya. Since classical times it has been known as a place where high quality dates are farmed. From the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Islam has played an important role in the community. The oasis is located on the east-west caravan route between Egypt and Tripoli, and on the north-south route between Benghazi and the Sahel between Lake Chad and Darfur, and in the past was an important trading center. It is the place after which the Awjila language, an Eastern Berber language, is named. The people cultivate small gardens using water from deep wells. Recently, the oil industry has become an increasingly important source of employment.

Location

Awjila and the adjoining oasis of Jalu are isolated, the only towns on the desert highway between Ajdabiya, 250 kilometres (160 mi) to the northwest, and Kufra, 625 kilometres (388 mi) to the southeast. An 1872 account describes the cluster of three oases: the Aujilah oasis, Jalloo (Jalu) to the east and Leshkerreh (Jikharra) to the northeast. Each oasis had a small hill covered in date palm trees, surrounded by a plain of red sand impregnated with salts of soda. Between them these oases had a population of 9,000 to 10,000 people. The people of the oasis are mainly Berber, and some still speak a Berber-origin language. As of 2005 the Awjila language was highly endangered.