The conquest of Algeria by France during the 1830's was halted at the margins of the Sahara by the local resistance of tribal populations, in combination with the difficulties of travel across the great expanses of barren desert. Transportation was one of the problems the French had to solve before they could complete their territorial control of all the desert country. The old trans-Saharan camel routes were used only by the native inhabitants. The caravans were slow, and they were subject to attack by interior nomadic tribes. Their main function had been to carry goods between the Sudan and North Africa. When the disease-infested forests of the Guinea Coast were penetrated by the French and the English and the country was pacified, the Sudan could be reached from the coasts. Therefore the trans-Saharan camel caravans disappeared. As a means of native transport for shorter distances, the camel has, of course, persisted to the present. By 1870, France held territory in both North and West Africa, and the railway age had arrived. A Trans-Saharan Railway to link the possessions of Algeria and the Sudan was considered. In strategic value and length, the Trans-Saharan would be in the same class as the transcontinental lines in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Siberia, which were being discussed or constructed during this period. But such a Saharan railway would cross the greatest of all deserts with the prospect of the smallest economic returns from freight and passengers.


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    Title :

    Transport in the Algerian Sahara


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    1951


    Size :

    6 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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