Metlili (Arabic: متليلي) (also known as Metlili ) is a town and commune, and capital of Métlili District, in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 40,576, up from 33,759 in 1998, and an annual growth rate of 1.9%.The population is called Chaanbas (الشعانبة). They descend from the Banu Sulaym Arab tribe. They migrated from Arabia (south of Medina) along with the Banu Hilal tribe in the year 975 AD to Northern Egypt and then in about 1051 AD to north Africa: Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco.