The Adrar des Ifoghas (also Adrar des Iforas;
Tamasheq: ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⴼⵓⵖⴰⵙ in
Tifinagh; Adrar n Ifoghas; ar, أدرار إيفوغاس
Ifoghas' Mountains) is a
massif located in the
Kidal Region of
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
, reaching into
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. It has an area of around 250,000 square kilometers (97,000 square miles).
Geography
The Adrar des Ifoghas area is characterized by wide, shallow valleys and is strewn with piles of eroded
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
blocks. The massif's valleys open to the Tamesna plain on the east, to the Telemsi fosse on the west, to the western basin of the Azaouak valley on the south and to the
Tanezrouft
The Tanezrouft ( ar, تنزروفت) is a natural region located along the borders of Algeria and Mali, west of the Hoggar Mountains. Along with the Libyan Desert it is one of the most desolate and most arid parts of the Sahara Desert. This area ha ...
on the north. Settlements of the area include
Kidal,
Aguel'hoc,
Boghassa
Boghassa (var. Boughessa) is a Saharan- Malian village and commune in the Cercle of Abeïbara in the Kidal Region of north-eastern Mali near the border with Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg ...
,
Essouk and
Tessalit.
The Adrar des Ifoghas is known locally as "Adagh". "Adrar" is the
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
word for mountain, while "Ifogha" is the name of an aristocratic
Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...
clan, "
Kel Ifoghas The Kel Adagh (var. Kel Adrar, Kel Adghagh, less commonly Kel Ifoghas) are a Tuareg confederation of clans (or "''Drum-Groups''") living in the region of the Adrar des Iforas highlands in Mali. The name comes from Tamasheq "''Kel''" ("those from/of" ...
", who have dominated the region for generations. Like most Tuareg, the Kel Ifoghas are
nomadic, raising
camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
s,
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s and
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
for sustenance and for sale.
The area is rich in archaeological remains, particularly
rock drawing
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s which depict men hunting, farming and cattle-rearing.
The skeleton of
Asselar man
Asselar man is a Later Stone Age skeleton discovered by Theodore Monod and Wladimir Besnard (in various sources incorrectly named M.M. Besnard or M.V. Besnard) in 1927, in the Adrar des Ifoghas. The massif is located near Essouk in what is now the ...
(c. 6,400 BP) was also found in the area by
Wladimir Besnard Wladimir Besnard (1890, St. Petersburg, Russia – 1960, São Paulo, Brazil) was a French biologist and Brazilian oceanographer, and is considered to be the father of Brazilian oceanography.Homenagem aos mestres: esculturas na USP, vol. 5 of "C ...
and
Théodore Monod
Théodore André Monod (9 April 1902 – 22 November 2000) was a French naturalist, humanist, scholar and explorer.
Exploration
Early in his career, Monod was made professor at the ''Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'' and founded the '' Inst ...
.
The Adrar des Ifoghas has also become popular for
treks.
Recent history
In 2013, the rugged badlands became a refuge for Islamist fighters fleeing French intervention in the
Mali civil war
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Mali War
, partof = the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and the War on terror
, image = MaliWar.svg
, image_size = 380
, caption = Military situation ...
.
On 22 February, a
battle was fought in Adrar des Ifoghas, killing 25 Chadians, including Abdel Aziz Hassane Adam, the leading Chadian special forces commander in Mali, and 93 Islamists. On 12 March, a
battle took place in the village of Tigharghar, killing one Chadian soldier and 6 Islamists. The battle resulted in the Chadians taking the village.
References
Further reading
*.
*This article was begun from a translation from the corresponding
French article, accessed 17 December 2005.
External links
*
{{Authority control
Mountains of Mali
Mountains of Algeria
Tuareg