The Aures Mountains (, known in antiquity as ) are a subrange of the
Saharan Atlas in northeastern
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
.
The mountain range gives its name to the mountainous
natural
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...
and
historical region
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
of the
Aurès
Aurès () is a natural region located in the mountainous area of the Aurès Mountains, Aurès range, in eastern Algeria. The region includes the provinces of Algeria, Algerian provinces of Batna Province, Batna, Tebessa Province, Tebessa, Consta ...
.
Geography
The Aures mountains are the eastern continuation of the
Saharan Atlas. The highest peak in the Aurès mountain range is
Djebel Chélia in
Khenchela Province
Khenchela Province () is a provinces of Algeria, province (''wilaya'') in the Aures, Aurès region in Algeria.
History
The province was created from parts of Oum el Bouaghi Province and Tébessa Province in 1984.
Administrative division
The pro ...
, which sits at .
The
Belezma Range is a northwestern prolongation of the Aures Mountains located where the
Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas come together. Its main summits are high Djebel Refaâ and high Djebel Tichaou. The Atlas chain of mountains extends over 1000 kilometers in total over Northern Africa.
History
Historically, the Aures served as a refuge and bulwark for 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 ...
tribes, forming a base of resistance against the
Romans,
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...
,
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
, and
Arabs
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
along the centuries.
The mountain area was also a district of
French Algeria
French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...
that existed during and after the
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
from 1954 to 1962. It was in this region that the Algerian War of Independence was started by Berber freedom fighters. The rugged terrain of the Aures makes it still one of the least developed areas in the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...
.
Population
In eastern Algeria, the ''Aures'' is a large
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 ...
-speaking region, home of the
Chaoui people. The Chaoui eastern
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 ...
population practices traditional
transhumance
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and low ...
, farming fixed stone terraces in the mountains where they grow
sorghum
''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
, as well as other grains and vegetables. Seasonally they move their cattle to relatively warm areas in the lowland valleys where they pitch tents or live in other temporary structures and tend livestock through the winter.
La vie économique du Chaouia de l'Aures
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Features
File:Localisation aures.svg, Location of the Aurès
Aurès () is a natural region located in the mountainous area of the Aurès Mountains, Aurès range, in eastern Algeria. The region includes the provinces of Algeria, Algerian provinces of Batna Province, Batna, Tebessa Province, Tebessa, Consta ...
region in Algeria
File:Belezma 1.JPG, View of one of the mountains of the Belezma Range, a western subrange of the Aures
File:Entrée des aouras par le sud.jpg, Landscape of southern area of the range
See also
* Aurès region
* Geography of Algeria
References
External links
*
Les Aurès - Algérie
(French). Includes many photos of the region.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aures Mountains
Mountain ranges of the Atlas Mountains
Mountain ranges of Algeria