Guelmim is a city in southern Morocco, often called Gateway to the Desert. It is the capital of the Guelmim-Assif Noun region which includes southern Morocco and the northeastern corner of Western Sahara. The population of the city was 187,808 as of the 2014 Moroccan census, making it the largest city in the region. The N1 and N12 highways cross at Guelmim and link it to the nearby region of Souss-Massa.

Shilha, now more commonly known as Tashelhiyt, Tachelhit, is a Berber language spoken in southwestern Morocco. When referring to the language, anthropologists and historians prefer the name Shilha, which is in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Linguists writing in English prefer Tashelhit. In French sources the language is called tachelhit, chelha or chleuh.