In Amenas (,
‘In ’Amanas) is a town and
commune in eastern
Algeria, bordering with
Libya. The town is located west of the border. There is no border crossing in the area. The municipality had 7,385 inhabitants in 2008, up from 5.302 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 3.4% According to the Algerian novelist
Mouloud Mammeri the name is a
Tuareg word which means "lieu des méharis" or "place of camel drivers."