The Tanezrouft ( ar, تنزروفت) is a
natural region
A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate.
From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora an ...
located along the borders of
Algeria
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, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
and
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. Ma ...
, west of the
Hoggar Mountains. Along with the
Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the north-eastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates ...
it is one of the most desolate and most arid parts of the
Sahara Desert. This area has no permanent residents and is known for its soaring temperatures and scarce access to crucial resources: water and food. Due to this, it is commonly referred to as the "land of terror".
Natural regions
Geographic features
The Tanezrouft is a vast barren plain extending to the west of th
Adrar Ahnet southeast of the
Erg Chech sand sea, and north of the
Adrar des Ifoghas
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, reaching into Algeri ...
hills in northern Mali.
Almost all in Algeria, the Tanezrouft is notoriously flat, featureless and without wells. In 1922 the firm gravel plain enabled the first crossing of the Sahara by motor vehicle. The terrain shows stark evidence of long-ago water erosion (when the
Sahara Desert's climate was much wetter; present annual rainfall is much less than 20 mm). In the present era the terrain is being shaped by wind erosion, which occurs much faster than in other areas, since there is little or no vegetation to hold the surface in place.
The area is known for aridity and extreme heat, and temperatures in summer can easily reach 52 °C (125.6 °F).
Because it is so arid, bleak and flat, the Tanezrouft was never the site of human occupation (in the Tuareg language its name means "Land of Thirst"). Since perhaps 500 BC a desolate trade route connected the
Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mal ...
with the Tidikelt,
Touat and the Hoggar in Algeria. It is now spanned north-south by a trans-Saharan route from
Béchar in Algeria via
Reggane to
Tessalit and
Gao in Mali. During the colonial era
Poste Maurice Cortier (also known as Bidon V, or 'oil drum 5') was a desolate refueling station along this route, 250 kilometres (or five oil drum markers) north of Tessalit. Because of its desolation, in the early 1960s the French thought it a good place to test
atomic bombs south of Reggane.
Fauna
In the Niger portion of Tanezrouft, populations of 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 in ...
painted hunting dog were previously viable west of the Hoggar Mountains,
[Hogan] but now the painted hunting dog is thought to be extinct for the entirety of Niger.
Eponym
In 2018, the asteroid
26871 Tanezrouft was named after the Tanezrouft Basin.
References
;Notes
;Sources
*C. Michael Hogan. 2009
''Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg*William Basil Morgan and John Charles Pugh. 1969. ''West Africa'', Published by Methuen, 788 pages,
Geography of Mali
Geography of Algeria
Tuareg
Sahara
Natural regions of Africa
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