and adventurer Ernst Aebi invested a significant amount of money and time into the project of regenerating this village. An account of his time there is recorded in his book Seasons of Sand. Local NGO "Araouane Action" and the Italian multicultural association "Les Cultures" are active in the village and in 2005 constructed a school block containing two classrooms. The International Committee of the Red Cross have financed the construction of a health center. Geography The surrounding desert is completely barren and the harmattan wind blows sand that accumulates against the walls of the buildings. The rainfall is too little to permit any agriculture and the village is dependent on the caravan trade which nowadays is restricted to the transport of salt blocks from the mines at Taoudenni, 420 km to the north. Climate Araouane has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) typical of the Tombouctou Region, characterized by a pronounced lack of rainfall and extreme heat. It lies in one of the hottest regions on the planet, in the western section of the Sahara Desert. The average annual rainfall barely reaches 45 mm (1,77 in) but is extremely variable from year to year and mostly fall between July and September, inclusively. The annual mean temperature is about 29 °C (84.2 °F). Averages highs exceed 42.8 °C (109 °F) during six consecutive months from April to September, inclusively, and reach an extreme peak of 46.6 °C (115.9 °F), max temperatures can easily reach 50°C and in rare occasions up to 55°C, being one of the hottest locations on earth. Demographics Araouane has just over 300 inhabitants divided into 45 families. Only around 40 men are permanently resident, the others are migrant workers, mostly employed in the salt mines of Taoudenni. The small village contains three mosques: the Kunta mosque, the Friday mosque and the Sidi Ahmed Ag Ada mosque. Araouane once had a significantly larger population. At the time of a visit by a unit of the French camel corps (méharistes) in 1906, the village had between 900 and 1000 inhabitants. Famous residents The Timbuktu scholar, Ahmad Baba al Massufi, was born in Araouane in 1556 but brought up in Timbuktu. References Sources . External links . View of the village from the air. Populated places in Taoudénit Region Oases of Mali Azawad