![Atlas-Mountains-Labeled-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Atlas-Mountains-Labeled-2.jpg)
The Tell Atlas ( ar, الاطلس التلي, Latn, ar, al-ʾaṭlas al-tlī) is a mountain chain over in length, belonging to the
Atlas mountain ranges in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, stretching mainly across northern
Algeria
)
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, capital = Algiers
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, relig ...
, with ends in both north-eastern
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and north-western
Tunisia
)
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, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
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, capital = Tunis
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, ...
.
The ranges of this system have an average elevations of about and form a natural barrier between the Mediterranean and the
Sahara
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, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
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. Its highest summit is the high
Lalla Khedidja
Lalla Khedidja or ( ar, لالة خديجة, Kabylian: ''Tamgut Aâlayen'' or ''Azeru Amghur''), is a mountain in Algeria. At , it is the highest summit of the Djurdjura Range, a subrange of the Tell Atlas.
Geography
This peak is located in the ...
in the
Jurjura Range
The Djurdjura or Jurjura Range ( ar, جبال جرجرة, ''Jabal Jurjura''; Berber ''Adrar n Jerjer'') is a mountain range of the Tell Atlas, part of the Atlas Mountain System. It is located in Kabylie, Algeria.
Geography
The Djurdjura is a mas ...
.
Several large cities such as the Algerian capital,
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
, with ~1,500,000 residents (2005) and Oran with ~770,000 residents (2005) lie at the base of the Tell Atlas. The Algerian city
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
with approximately 505,000 residents (2005) lies 80 km inland and directly in the mountains at 650 meters in elevation. A number of smaller towns and villages are situated within the Tell; for example,
Chiffa
Chiffa is a town and gorge in the Tell Atlas Mountains of northern Algeria
)
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is nestled within the Chiffa gorge.
Geography
The Tell Atlas runs parallel to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coast. Together with the
Saharan Atlas Saharan may refer to:
* Someone or something from the Sahara desert
* Sahrawi people (also spelled Saharawi), the indigenous people of Western Sahara
* Saharan languages
The Saharan languages are a small family of languages across parts of the ea ...
to the south, it forms the northernmost of two more or less parallel ranges which approach one another towards the east, remaining quite distinct from one another in ''Western Algeria'' and merging in ''Eastern Algeria''. At the western end, it ends at the
Rif
The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...
and
Middle Atlas
The Middle Atlas (Amazigh: ⴰⵟⵍⴰⵙ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵎⴰⵙ, ''Atlas Anammas'', Arabic: الأطلس المتوسط, ''al-Aṭlas al-Mutawassiṭ'') is a mountain range in Morocco. It is part of the Atlas mountain range, a mountainous region ...
ranges in Morocco. The Tell Atlas is also a distinct physiographic section of the larger
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...
province, which in turn is part of the larger
African Alpine System physiographic
Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, ...
division.
The Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas form two natural barriers, the first against the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and the second against the
Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
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, ...
. Between them lies the valley of the
Chelif
Chelif River ( ar, وادي الشلف) (also spelled Chéliff, or Sheliff) is a river in Algeria, the longest in the country. It rises in the Saharan Atlas near the city of Aflou, flows through the Tell Atlas and empties into the Mediterranean ...
and various lesser rivers.
South of the Tell Atlas is the high plateau of the ''
Hautes Plaines
The Hautes Plaines ("High Plains", ar, الهضاب العليا), also known as Hauts Plateaux, is a steppe-like natural region located in the Atlas Mountains in northern Algeria. It stretches more than in an east northeast – west southwes ...
'' (~1000 m in elevation) with level terrain where water collects during the wet season, forming large shallow salt lakes which become
salt flats Salt flats, Salt flat, Salt Flats, or Salt Flat may refer to: Geology
*Salt pan (geology), a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals
* Dry lake, an ephemeral lakebed that consists of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali sal ...
as they dry. Agriculture includes grazing of sheep and goats on the grass in better-watered high plateau areas and some farming; dry-land barley is grown there.
The
Chelif
Chelif River ( ar, وادي الشلف) (also spelled Chéliff, or Sheliff) is a river in Algeria, the longest in the country. It rises in the Saharan Atlas near the city of Aflou, flows through the Tell Atlas and empties into the Mediterranean ...
is a 725 km long river with headwaters in the Tell Atlas to its discharge into the Mediterranean. The Chelif is characterized by an extremely fertile valley. Other noteworthy rivers having their sources in this range are the
Medjerda
The Medjerda River ( ar, وادي مجردة), the classical Bagrada, is a river in North Africa flowing from northeast Algeria through Tunisia before emptying into the Gulf of Tunis and Lake of Tunis. With a length of , it is the longest river ...
and the
Seybouse River
Seybouse (in arq, rtl=yes, وادي سيبوس, Oued Seybouse) is a river in northeastern Algeria, near the border with Tunisia. In Roman times, it was called the ''Ubus''.
Course
The river runs for about , flowing through Guelma and Annaba Prov ...
.
Only seasonal streams are found flowing south from the Tell Atlas.
Climate and vegetation
The Tell Atlas has a typical
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
, warm with dry summers and mild, rainy winters with snow at upper elevations. As a consequence, the northern slopes of the Tell Atlas are forested with the
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
''
Abies numidica
''Abies numidica'', the Algerian fir, is a species of fir found only in Algeria, where it is endemic on Djebel Babor, the second-highest mountain (2,004 meters) in the Algerian Tell Atlas.Farjon, A. (1990). ''Pinaceae. Drawings and Description ...
'', and
Atlas cedar
''Cedrus atlantica'', the Atlas cedar, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae, native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morocco (Middle Atlas, High Atlas), and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria.Gaussen, H. (1964). Genre ''Cedrus''. Les F ...
,
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
, and
cork oak
''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores ...
. In the summer a hot, dry wind, the
Sirocco
Sirocco ( ), scirocco, or, rarely, siroc (see below) is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season.
Names
''Sirocco'' derives from ...
, blows north from the Sahara across the Tell Atlas, causing dusty, dry conditions along the northern coast of Africa.
Despite the arid climate, some agriculture for barley and wheat farming is found in the Tell Atlas region. The
Chiffa
Chiffa is a town and gorge in the Tell Atlas Mountains of northern Algeria
)
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, map_caption =
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gorge is situated within the Tell Atlas; this location is one of the few remaining habitats for the
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
, the
Barbary macaque
The Barbary macaque (''Macaca sylvanus''), also known as Barbary ape, is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar.
It is the type species of the ...
, ''Macaca sylvanus''.
[C. Michael Hogan (2008]
''Barbary Macaque: Macaca sylvanus'', Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Strõmberg
See also
*
List of mountains in Algeria
This is a list of mountains in the country of Algeria.
See also
* Ahaggar Mountains
* Teffedest Mountains
* Khachna Mountains
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Mountains In Algeria
Mountains of Algeria, *
Lists of mountains of Algeria, ...
*
Saharan Atlas Saharan may refer to:
* Someone or something from the Sahara desert
* Sahrawi people (also spelled Saharawi), the indigenous people of Western Sahara
* Saharan languages
The Saharan languages are a small family of languages across parts of the ea ...
References
External links
*
Tell Atlas - The Great Soviet Encyclopedia
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of the Atlas Mountains
Maghreb
Mountain ranges of Morocco
Mountain ranges of Algeria
Physiographic sections
Mountain ranges of Tunisia