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Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

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The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes,...

 across a northern stretch of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...

 extending about 2,500 km (1,500 miles) through Morocco
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...

, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...

, and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...

. The highest peak is Jbel Toubkal
Jbel Toubkal
Jebel Toubkal is a mountain peak in southwestern Morocco, located in the Toubkal National Park. At 4,167 metres, it is the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains and in North Africa. It is located 63 km south of the city of Marrakech, in the Toubkal National Park...

, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...

 and Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...

 coastlines from the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara , , "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean...

 Desert. The population of the Atlas Mountains are mainly Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke various Berber languages, which together form a branch of the...

. The terms for 'mountain' in some Berber languages are adrar and adras, believed to be cognate with the toponym.

The mountains are divided into additional and separate ranges, including the Middle Atlas
Middle Atlas
The Middle Atlas is part of the Atlas mountain range lying in Morocco, a mountainous country with more than 100,000 km² or 22% of the surface rising above 2,000 meters. The Middle Atlas is the westernmost of three Atlas Mountains chains that define a large plateaued basin extending eastward into...

, High Atlas
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...

, and Anti-Atlas
Anti-Atlas
The Anti-Atlas or Jebel Saghru, or Lesser Atlas, is one of the mountain ranges lying in Morocco, as part of the Atlas mountains in the northwest of Africa. The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest, toward the northeast, to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the...

. The lower Tell Atlas
Tell Atlas
The Tell Atlas is a mountain chain over 1,500 kilometers in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges in North Africa, stretching from Morocco, through Algeria to Tunisia. It parallels the Mediterranean coast...

 running near the coast and the larger Saharan Atlas
Saharan Atlas
The Saharan Atlas of Algeria is the eastern portion of the Atlas Mountains. Not as tall as the Grand Atlas of Morocco they are far more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs closer to the coast. The tallest peak in the range is the high Djebel Aissa....

 running further south terminate in the Aurès Mountains
Aurès Mountains
The Aurès , or Aurea, refers to an Amazigh language-speaking region in East Algeria, as well as an extension of the Atlas mountain range that lies to the east of the Saharan Atlas in eastern Algeria and northwestern Tunisia...

 located in Algeria and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...

. The Atlas Mountains constitute one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger African Alpine System division.

The mountains are or were home to a number of plant and animal species unique in Africa (often more like those of Europe) many of them are endangered and some have already gone extinct. Examples include the Atlas Cedar
Atlas Cedar
The Atlas Cedar is a cedar native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco . It is variously treated as a variety or subspecies of Lebanon Cedar Cedrus libani  var. atlantica Hook.f. or Cedrus libani subsp. atlantica Batt...

, the Atlas Bear
Atlas Bear
The Atlas Bear was a subspecies of the Brown Bear, but is sometimes considered a distinct species. It was Africa's only native bear. Once inhabiting the Atlas Mountains and neighboring areas, from Morocco to Libya, the animal is now thought to be extinct...

 (Africa's only species of bear, which is now extinct), the Barbary Leopard
Barbary leopard
The Barbary Leopard or North African Leopard has been described originally as a separate subspecies of the leopard. It is native to the Atlas Mountains of North Africa...

, the Barbary Macaque
Barbary Macaque
The Barbary Macaque is a macaque with only a stub of a tail. Found in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco with a small, possibly introduced, population in Gibraltar, the Barbary Macaque is one of the best-known Old World monkey species. Besides humans, they are the only primates that live...

, the Atlas mountain viper, the Barbary stag
Barbary stag
The Barbary stag , or Atlas deer is a subspecies of red deer that is native to North Africa.-Description:...

, Barbary Sheep
Barbary sheep
The Barbary Sheep, Ammotragus lervia, also known as Waddan, is a species of caprid native to rocky mountains in North Africa. Six subspecies have been described. Although it is rare in its native North Africa, it has been introduced to North America, southern Europe and elsewhere.- Description...

, the Barbary Lion
Barbary Lion
The Barbary Lion, Atlas lion or Nubian lion is a subspecies of lion that has become extinct in the wild. There are around 40 in captivity in Europe, with fewer than a hundred in zoos around the world....

 (extinct in the wild), the North African Elephant
North African Elephant
The North African Elephant was a possible subspecies of the African Bush Elephant , or possibly a separate elephant species, that existed in North Africa until becoming extinct in Ancient Roman times. These were the famous war elephants used by Carthage in the Punic Wars, their conflict with the...

 (extinct), the African Aurochs (extinct), the Northern Bald Ibis
Northern Bald Ibis
The Northern Bald Ibis, Hermit Ibis, or Waldrapp is a bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water, although unlike other ibises it does not wade. This 70–80 cm glossy black ibis has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, curved red bill...

, the European Black Pine
European Black Pine
The European Black Pine Pinus nigra , is a variable species of pine, occurring across southern Europe from Spain to the Crimea, and also in Asia Minor, Cyprus, and locally in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa...

, the Dippers, the Algerian Oak
Algerian Oak
The Algerian Oak or Mirbeck's Oak is an oak in the section Quercus sect. Mesobalanus, native to southern Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco; despite the scientific name, it does not occur naturally in the Canary Islands.It is a medium-sized deciduous to semi-evergreen tree growing to...

, and Cuvier's Gazelle
Cuvier's Gazelle
Cuvier's Gazelle Gazella cuvieri is a species of gazelle from northern Africa. It was named for the scientist Georges Cuvier. It is very rare in wild with only 2000 individuals.- Characteristics :...

.

Geology


The basement rock of most of Africa was formed in the Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is an informal name for the span of time before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is divided into several eons of the geologic timescale. It spans from the formation of Earth around 4500 Ma to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, when macroscopic hard-shelled animals first...

 (approximately 4.5 billion years ago) and is much older than the Atlas mountains lying in Africa. The Atlas formed during three subsequent phases of Earth's history.

The first tectonic deformation phase involves only the Anti-Atlas
Anti-Atlas
The Anti-Atlas or Jebel Saghru, or Lesser Atlas, is one of the mountain ranges lying in Morocco, as part of the Atlas mountains in the northwest of Africa. The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest, toward the northeast, to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the...

, which was formed in the Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon...

 Era (~300 million years ago) as the result of continental collision
Collision
A collision is an isolated event in which two or more moving bodies exert relatively strong forces on each other for a relatively short time.-Dynamics:Collisions involve forces...

s. North America
North America
North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...

, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...

 and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...

 were connected millions of years ago.
The Anti-Atlas mountains are believed to have originally been formed as part of Alleghenian orogeny
Alleghenian orogeny
The Alleghenian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling "Alleghany Orogeny" originally proposed by H.P...

. These mountains were formed when Africa and America collided, and were once a chain rivaling today's Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

. Today, the remains of this chain can be seen in the Fall line
Fall line
In geomorphology, a fall line marks the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet. Technically, a fall line is an unconformity. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...

 in the eastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Some remnants can also be found in the later formed Appalachians
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains , often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians...

 in North America.

A second phase took place during the Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the "Mesozoic" was "Secondary" The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the...

 Era (before ~65 My) and consisted of a widespread extension of the Earth's crust
Crust (geology)
In geology, a crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or moon, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle. The crusts of Earth, our Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Io, and other planetary bodies have been generated largely by igneous processes, and these crusts are richer in...

 that rift
Rift
In geology, a rift is a place where the Earth's crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics....

ed and separated the continents mentioned above. This extension was responsible for the formation of many thick intracontinental sedimentary basin
Sedimentary basin
The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. As the sediments are buried, they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification....

s including the present Atlas. Most of the rocks forming the surface of the present High Atlas were deposited under the ocean at that time.

Finally, in the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.588 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

 Era (~65 million to ~1.8 million years ago), the mountain chains that today comprise the Atlas were uplifted as the land masses of Europe and Africa collided at the southern end of the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...

. Such convergent tectonic boundaries occur where two plates slide towards each other forming a subduction
Subduction
In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge. A subduction zone is an area on Earth where two tectonic plates move towards one another and...

 zone (if one plate moves underneath the other) and/or a continental collision
Orogeny
Orogeny refers to natural mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event, and a chronological event...

 (when the two plates contain continental crust
Continental crust
The continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called sial due to more felsic, or granitic, bulk composition, which lies in...

). In the case of the Africa-Europe collision, it is clear that tectonic convergence is partially responsible for the formation of the High Atlas
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...

, as well as for the closure of the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco...

 and the formation of the Alps
Alps
The Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....

 and the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain...

. However, there is a lack of evidence for the nature of the subduction in the Atlas region, or for the thickening of the Earth's crust generally associated with continental collisions. In fact, one of the most striking features of the Atlas to geologists is the relative small amount of crustal thickening and tectonic shortening despite the important altitude of the mountain range. Recent studies suggest that deep processes rooted in the Earth's mantle may have contributed to the uplift of the High and Middle Atlas.

Natural resources


The Atlas are rich in natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...

. There are deposits of iron ore
Iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red. The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite , hematite , goethite, limonite or...

, lead ore, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...

, silver
Silver
Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury , also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum , is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80...

, rock salt, phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

, marble
Marble
Marble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...

, anthracite coal
Anthracite coal
Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high lustre...

, and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...

 among other resources

Subranges of the Atlas Mountains



The range can be divided into three general regions from west to east:
  • Middle Atlas, High Atlas, and Anti-Atlas (Morocco).
  • Saharan Atlas
    Saharan Atlas
    The Saharan Atlas of Algeria is the eastern portion of the Atlas Mountains. Not as tall as the Grand Atlas of Morocco they are far more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs closer to the coast. The tallest peak in the range is the high Djebel Aissa....

     (Algeria).
  • Tell Atlas
    Tell Atlas
    The Tell Atlas is a mountain chain over 1,500 kilometers in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges in North Africa, stretching from Morocco, through Algeria to Tunisia. It parallels the Mediterranean coast...

     (Algeria, Tunisia).

Middle Atlas range


The Middle Atlas is a portion of the Atlas mountain range lying completely in Morocco. The Middle Atlas is the westernmost of three Atlas Mountains chains that define a large, plateaued basin extending eastward into Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...

. South of the Middle Atlas and separated by the Moulouya
Moulouya River
Moulouya River is a 520 km long river in Morocco. Its sources are located in Middle Atlas. It empties to the Mediterranean Sea west of Algeria at about . Water level in the river often fluctuates. The river is being used for irrigation....

 and Oum Er-Rbia
Oum Er-Rbia River
Oum Er-Rbia , is a river in central Morocco. The river is 555 km long and is the longest in the country. With an average water debit of 105 m3/s, Oum Er-Rbia is the second largest river in Morocco after the Sebou River. It takes source in the Middle Atlas and passes through the city of...

 rivers, the High Atlas
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...

 stretches for with a succession of peaks among which ten reach above . North of the Middle Atlas and separated by the Sebou River
Sebou River
Sebou is a river in northern Morocco. The river is 458 kilometres long and has an average water flow of 137 m3/s. The Sebou is the largest by volume and the second longest river in the country . The source is in the Middle Atlas mountains. It passes near the city of Fes and discharges...

, the Rif
Rif
The Rif is a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco, stretching from Cape Spartel and Tangier in the west to Ras Kebdana and the Moulouya River in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the river of Ouargha in the south.It is part of the Cordillera Bética that also...

 mountains are an extension of the Baetic Cordillera
Baetic Cordillera
The Baetic Cordillera is a mountain system in the southern and eastern Spain. Also known as the Baetic ranges or Baetic mountains, and in Spanish as the Sistema Penibético, the Baetic Cordillera is made up of multiple mountain ranges that reach from western Andalusia to Murcia and Valencia,...

 (Baetic mountains, which include the Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada (Spain)
The Sierra Nevada, meaning "snowy range" in Spanish, is a mountain range in the region of Andalusia in Spain. It contains the highest point of continental Spain, Mulhacén at ....

) in the south of Spain.

High Atlas


The High Atlas in central Morocco rises in the west at the Atlantic coast
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...

 and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly and makes an impressive transition to the coast and the Anti-Atlas range. To the north, in the direction of Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Red City", is an important and former imperial city in Morocco...

, the range descends less abruptly.

On the heights of Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate , is a city and capital of Ouarzazate Province in the Souss-Massa-Draâ of southern-central Morocco. As of 2004 it had a population of 56,616. Ouarzazate is located at an altitude of 1,160 m in the middle of a bare plateau, south of the High Atlas Mountains. To the south of the town is...

 the massif is cut through by the Draa valley which opens southward. In this chaos of rocks the contrasts are astonishing: water runs in some places, forming clear basins. It is mainly inhabited by Berber people, who live in small villages and cultivate the high plains of Ourika Valley.


Near Barrage Cavagnac, there is a hydroelectric dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions...

 that has created the artificial lake Lalla Takerkoust. The lake serves also as a source for fish for the local fishermen.

The largest villages and towns of the area are Tahanaoute, Amizmiz
Amizmiz
Amizmiz is a small town in Morocco approximately 55 kilometers south of Marrakech. It lies at the foot of the High Atlas mountain range....

, Asni
Asni
Asni is a small town in the foothills of the High Atlas mountains near Marrakech, Morocco.-External links:**...

, Tin Mal
Tin Mal
Tin Mal is a small mountain village in the High Atlas at 100 km of Marrakech, Morocco. It is considered the cradle of the Almohad empire from where they started their military campaigns against the Almoravids in early 12th century....

, Ijoukak, and Oukaïmden.

Anti-Atlas ranges


The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...

 in the southwest of Morocco toward the northeast to the heights of Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate , is a city and capital of Ouarzazate Province in the Souss-Massa-Draâ of southern-central Morocco. As of 2004 it had a population of 56,616. Ouarzazate is located at an altitude of 1,160 m in the middle of a bare plateau, south of the High Atlas Mountains. To the south of the town is...

 and further east to the city of Tafilalt
Tafilalt
Tafilalt or Tafilet is a region and the most important oasis of the Moroccan Sahara; it is also considered one of the largest oasis in the world, the oasis is entirely located along the Ziz River. The oasis is ten days' journey south of Fez, across the Atlas Mountains...

 (altogether a distance of approximately ). In the south it borders the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara , , "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean...

. The easternmost point of the anti-Atlas is the Djebel Sarhro mountains and its eastern boundary is set by sections of the High Atlas range
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...

.

Saharan Atlas range


The Saharan Atlas of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...

 is the eastern portion of the Atlas mountain range. Not as high as the Grand Atlas they are far more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs to the north of them and closer to the coast. The tallest peak in the range is the high Djebel Aissa. They mark the northern edge of the Sahara Desert. The mountains see some rainfall and are better suited to agriculture than the plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau, also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain...

 region to the north. Today most of the population of the region are Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke various Berber languages, which together form a branch of the...

.

Tell Atlas range



The Tell Atlas is a mountain chain over in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges and stretching from Morocco, through Algeria to Tunisia. It parallels the Mediterranean coast. Together with the Saharan Atlas to the south it forms the northernmost of two more or less parallel ranges which gradually approach one another towards the east, merging in Eastern Algeria. At the western ends at the Middle Atlas
Middle Atlas
The Middle Atlas is part of the Atlas mountain range lying in Morocco, a mountainous country with more than 100,000 km² or 22% of the surface rising above 2,000 meters. The Middle Atlas is the westernmost of three Atlas Mountains chains that define a large plateaued basin extending eastward into...

 range in Morocco. The area immediately to the south of this range is high plateau, with lakes in the wet season and salt flats in the dry.

Aurès mountain range


The Aurès Mountains of Algeria and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...

are the furthest eastern portion of the Atlas mountain range.