physics

Reggane

Reggane is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Reggane rather than just read about it. In short: Reggane (from Berber "Argan"; Arabic: رقان) is a town and commune, and the capital of Reggane District, in Adrar Province, central Algeria. Reggane lies in the Sahara Desert near an oasis.

Key takeaways

Reggane belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Reggane to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Reggane from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Reggane (from Berber "Argan"; Arabic: رقان) is a town and commune, and the capital of Reggane District, in Adrar Province, central Algeria. Reggane lies in the Sahara Desert near an oasis. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 20,402, up from 14,179 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 3.8%. Berber tribes and people live in and around Reggane.

History Reggane has long functioned as an important crossroads point and oasis for trans-Saharan trade routes. Ancient Arabs and/or Berbers also knew of diamonds in the area, calling the area Bilād al-mās (ﺱﺎﻣﻟﺍ, “country of the diamond”).

French nuclear testing

The Évian Accords, which outlined the terms of Algerian independence in 1962, granted France the rights to continue military testing on Algerian soil. To the east of Reggane there was, until 1965, a rocket launching site where numerous civilian and military ballistic rockets were launched. France began its nuclear testing program in the vicinity of Reggane, conducting four such tests during the Algerian War in 1960 and 1961, before independence, and several after. The French government claimed the tests were taking place in an uninhabited area, yet thousands of people lived in the radiation zone and were not warned properly about the tests. The French also did not properly dispose of the irradiated objects from the tests, which were soon uncovered by the desert winds. Since then, the local populations have dealt with significantly higher rates of liver, skin, and stomach cancers, as well as blindness and babies being born with atrophied limbs.

Geography The town of Reggane and its neighbouring villages lie next to the southernmost oasis of the Tuat region, which stretches northward to Adrar. The Tidikelt region, a plain with isolated oases, lies to the east, including towns such as In Salah, In Ghar, Aoulef and Tit. To the west is the sandy Erg Chech desert, while to the south lies the vast barren plain of the Tanezrouft.

Climate Reggane has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with long, extremely hot summers and short, very warm winters. The climate is torrid and almost rainless. Daytime temperatures consistently approach 50 °C (122 °F) in summer and nighttime temperatures routinely remain above 30 °C (86 °F). Average annual rainfall is extremely low, with only 10 mm (0.39 in). The sky is always clear and sunny throughout the year. The area in the heart of the Algerian Desert bounded by Adrar - Reggane - In Salah is nicknamed the "triangle of fire" by local inhabitants due to the extreme heat that bakes the region from May to September.

Transportation Reggane is the last town on the Tanezrouft track heading south across the Sahara Desert to Mali. Customs and police inspection here are mandatory before crossing the Sahara Desert. The Tanezrouft track is the southern part of Algeria's N6 national highway, which connects to Adrar to the north and Bordj Badji Mokhtar to the south. Another highway, the N52, leads through the Tidikelt region to Aoulef and eventually In Salah. The town is served by Reggane Airport, located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of the town.

Education 6.0% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 15.6% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 75.9%, and is 85.0% among males and 66.3% among females.

Localities As of 1984, the commune was composed of 11 localities:

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Reggane

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Reggane claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Reggane before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Reggane ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Reggane

In research: Reggane appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Reggane in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Reggane is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cities in Algeria, Communes of Adrar Province, French nuclear test sites, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Reggane outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Reggane” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Reggane in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Reggane means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Reggane out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reggane in simple terms?

Reggane (from Berber "Argan"; Arabic: رقان) is a town and commune, and the capital of Reggane District, in Adrar Province, central Algeria. Reggane lies in the Sahara Desert near an oasis.

Why does Reggane matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Reggane?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Reggane.