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

-speaking region, home of the Chaoui people. The Chaoui eastern

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
/ref>

Features

File:Localisation aures.svg, Location of the

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

References

External links