oasis, southwestern Morocco. Situated in an arid region at the extreme northwestern edge of the Sahara, Tata oasis is located in a canyon watered by three wadis descending from Mount Bani, an outlier of the Anti-Atlas mountains. The oasis contains about 30 ksars (fortified villages) with houses built out of pink clay. The inhabitants of the region include Berbers (Imazighen), who live in fortified villages and graze sheep, and the Ḥarāṭīn, a people of sub-Saharan African descent who live with the Berber pastoralists and earn their living as agricultural labourers. Crops cultivated in the region's date-palm settlements include olives, lemons, oranges, almonds, and carob. Pop. (1994) 12,549.