The
Saharan Atlas of
AlgeriaAlgeria , 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 MountainsThe Atlas Mountains are a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about 2,500 km through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Jbel Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines...
. Not as tall as the Grand Atlas of
MoroccoMorocco, 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...
they are far more imposing than the
Tell AtlasThe 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...
range that runs closer to the coast. The tallest peak in the range is the high Djebel Aissa.
The Saharan Atlas includes a series of shorter ranges: the
Amour,
Ksour and
Ouled-Naïl Mountains. The Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas merge in the east to join together into the
Tébessa and
Medjerda mountains.
The Saharan Atlas is one of the vast plateaus of
AfricaAfrica 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...
, formed of ancient base rock covered by the sediment of shallow seas and alluvial deposits.
Among the rivers of the Atlas, the Saharan Atlas feeds
wadiWadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley; in some cases it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
s.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Saharan Atlas' Start a new discussion about 'Saharan Atlas' Answer questions from other users |
The
Saharan Atlas of
AlgeriaAlgeria , 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 MountainsThe Atlas Mountains are a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about 2,500 km through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Jbel Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines...
. Not as tall as the Grand Atlas of
MoroccoMorocco, 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...
they are far more imposing than the
Tell AtlasThe 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...
range that runs closer to the coast. The tallest peak in the range is the high Djebel Aissa.
The Saharan Atlas includes a series of shorter ranges: the
Amour,
Ksour and
Ouled-Naïl Mountains. The Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas merge in the east to join together into the
Tébessa and
Medjerda mountains.
The Saharan Atlas is one of the vast plateaus of
AfricaAfrica 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...
, formed of ancient base rock covered by the sediment of shallow seas and alluvial deposits.
Among the rivers of the Atlas, the Saharan Atlas feeds
wadiWadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley; in some cases it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
s. Among these are the
Chelif and
Touil Touil is a town and commune in Mauritania....
wadis, riverbeds that contains water only during wet periods, respectively draining the
Amour and
Ouled-Naïl ranges of the Saharan Atlas.
The Saharan Atlas Mountains mark the northern edge of the Sahara Desert. The mountains see some rainfall and are better suited to agriculture than the
plateauIn 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
ChaouiThe Chaouis are a Berber people who live mainly in the Aurès Region and Aurès Mountains. They call themselves Icawiyen and speak the Chaouia language.- Bibliographie :...
BerbersBerbers 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 mountains have also long been home to exiles expelled from the fertile coastal regions.
The Sahara desert is one of the largest in the world.