The Blue Mountains (french: Montagnes Bleus,

Tamasheq Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others being Ta ...

: ''Izouzaouene'', ''Izouzaoenehe'') are an outcrop off the northeastern section of the Aïr Massif in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesIférouane and 30 km NE of the Tezerik oasis. Isolated from the main massif by dunes of the Erg Temet and a flat gravelly

desert pavement A desert pavement, also called reg (in the western Sahara), serir (eastern Sahara), gibber (in Australia), or saï (central Asia) is a desert surface covered with closely packed, interlocking angular or rounded rock fragments of pebble and cob ...

plain, the rocky outcrop from the desert rises to a height of 924m, almost 300m over the surrounding topography. The area is in

Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve The Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve in Niger. It includes several overlapping reserve designations, and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It covers both the eastern half of the Aïr Mountains and ...

, which is a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. The mountains themselves are also within the smaller Aïr and Ténéré Addax Sanctuary. They are characterised by cipollino marble outcroppings, which give the hills a bluish tint. Despite their relative remoteness, they became a tourist destination during the upsurge of desert

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

References

Further reading