Tamanrasset is located at an oasis where, despite the difficult climate, citrus fruits, apricots, dates, almonds, cereals, corn, and figs are grown.

Tamanrasset originated as the centre of a network of camel caravan trading routes from Kano, Lake Chad, Gao, Agades and Zinder.

[4] When Algeria was under French rule, the Catholic priest Charles de Foucauld built his hermitage here in 1905; he established the fort by 1915.

Due to improper sealing of the shaft, a spectacular flame burst through the concrete cap and radioactive gases and dust were vented into the atmosphere.

In 2010, the oasis town was the site of the Joint Military Staff Committee headquarters for combating Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.

The four-country Committee (Algeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania) intends to use Tamanrasset to coordinate their military activity in the Pan-Sahel.