| Official Name: | Tataouine |
| Native Name: | |
| Pushpin Map: | Tunisia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Tunisia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name2: | Tataouine North, Tataouine South |
| Leader Name1: | Boubaker Souid (Ennahda) |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Total: | 70224 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Utc Offset: | 1 |
| Coordinates: | 32.9306°N 10.45°W |
Tataouine (Berber languages: '''Tiṭṭawin'''; Arabic: تطاوين) is a city in southern Tunisia. It is the capital of the Tataouine Governorate. The below-ground "cave dwellings" of the native Berber population, designed for coolness and protection, render the city and the area around it as a tourist and film makers' attraction. Nearby fortified settlements (ksars), manifestations of Berber architecture, such as Ksar Ouled Soltane, Chenini, Douiret, and Ksar Hadada, are popular tourist sites.
The name Berber languages: Tiṭṭawin means 'eyes' and 'water springs' in the Berber language. It is sometimes transliterated in European languages as Tatahouine, Tatahouïne, Tatawin or Tatooine. The names "Tataouine", "Tatahouine" and "Foum Tatahouine" all appeared in the postcards portraying the city in the 1920s.
The city used to be called Arabic: Fum Taṭāwīn (Arabic: فم تطاوين), alternatively spelled Arabic: Fumm Tattauin, Arabic: Foum Tatahouine, Arabic: Fum Tatawin, or Arabic: Foum Tataouine, which means 'mouth of the springs'.[1]
From 1892 to 1951, Tataouine was the garrison town of the French penal military unit known as the "Battalion of Light Infantry of Africa".[2] After the French established the town, a mosque (built in 1898) and homes were built in Tataouine.[1]
On June 27, 1931, a meteorite of unusual achondrite type and green color impacted at Tataouine;[3] about 12 kg of fragments were found. The meteorite consists largely of the mineral enstatite, and is of the rare Diogenite type.[4]
Tataouine became the inspiration of Tatooine when the town was chosen as a filming location for exterior scenes of the desert planet in the Star Wars film series. Another location that was considered is Lallmatie, a small town in Mauritius.
In March 2015, it was briefly reported that ISIL was using Tataouine as a military base,[5] but later these claims were denied by the Tunisian government as false.[6]
In September 2016, a new oil field was found south of the town by the Italian company Eni.[7]
The Ksour Festival (French: Festival international des ksour sahariens) is an annual festival held in Tataouine in March.[8] In Tataouine some people speak a Berber dialect.[9]
On June 27, 1931, at 1:30am, a meteorite of a weight currently estimated of ca 50 kg fell 4 km North of the city.[10] Due to a transcription error, it is recorded in the Meteoretical Society international database under the name Tatahouine (with an added h).[11] It is a rare diogenite originating from 4 Vesta in the asteroid belt.
On observing fragments of the Tatahouine meteorite, researchers noticed rod-like structures. Upon further investigation, those turned out to be a kind of bacteria which was named Ramlibacter tataouinensis (from Raml meaning sand in Arabic, bacter meaning bacteria in Latin, and the adjective referring to the town of Tatatouine) and which survive in the desert soil of the region despite harsh conditions. This bacteria and another closely related one which was named Ramlibacter henchirensis (from Henchir meaning in Tunisian dialect a field surrounded by stones or antique ruins) have the peculiar feature to be spherical during the day (forming a microbial cyst with a thick wall protecting them from desiccation, the extreme heat and the sun's UV) and become rod-like during the night when they need less protection, thus becoming able to move and colonize even the smallest cracks in rocks.[12] The discovery and research around Ramlibacter tataouinensis is scientifically significant because it demonstrated that rod-like structures observed in another meteorite, the ALH 84001 discovered in Antartica, and thought for a time to be of extraterrestrial origin, could actually be terrestrial bacteria from the ground which had contaminated and then colonized the sample.[13]
Numerous fossils, including vegetal, trees, animals, and dinosaurs footprints have been found in the region, several being exhibited at the local Museum of Earth Memory. Among dinosaurs, Tataouinea is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaurs with avian-like bone structures described in 2013. Additional fossil material was described in 2015.[14] The generic name, "Tataouinea", references the city of Tataouine, while the specific name, "hannibalis", honors the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca.[15]