Geography of Algeria
Template:Short description Template:Infobox country geography
Algeria comprises Template:Convert of land, more than 80% of which is desert, in North Africa, between Morocco and Tunisia.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="factbook" /> It is the largest country in Africa.<ref name="factbook" /> Its Arabic name, Al Jazair (the islands), is believed to derive from the rocky islands along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.<ref name=":0" /> The northern portion, an area of mountains, valleys, and plateaus between the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert, forms an integral part of the section of North Africa known as the Maghreb.<ref name=":0" /> This area includes Morocco, Tunisia, and the northwestern portion of Libya known historically as Tripolitania.<ref name=":0" />
Size and boundaries
[edit]Land boundaries:
Total: Template:Convert<ref name="factbook" />
Border countries: Libya Template:Convert, Mali Template:Convert, Mauritania Template:Convert, Morocco Template:Convert, Niger Template:Convert, Tunisia Template:Convert, Western Sahara Template:Convert.<ref name="Ewan W. Anderson, Liam D. Anderson">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="cia">Template:Cite book</ref>
Area – comparative: slightly larger than the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Saudi Arabia
Coastline: Template:Convert<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Maritime claims: Territorial sea: Template:Convert, contiguous zone: Template:Convert; exclusive fishing zone: Template:Convert<ref name="factbook" />
Geographic regions
[edit]The Tell
[edit]The fertile Tell is the country's heartland, containing most of its cities and population.<ref name=":0" /> Made up of hills and plains of the narrow coastal region, the several Tell Atlas mountain ranges, and the intermediate valleys and basins, the Tell extends eastward from the Moroccan border to the mountains of the Grande Kabylie and the Bejaia Plain on the east.<ref name=":0" /> Its eastern terminus is the Soummam River.<ref name=":0" />
The best agricultural areas are the gentle hills extending 100 kilometers westward from Algiers; the Mitidja Plain, which was a malarial swamp before being cleared by the French; and the Bejaia Plain.<ref name=":0" /> The alluvial soils in these areas permitted the French to establish magnificent vineyards and citrus groves.<ref name=":0" /> By contrast, in the great valley of the Chelif River and other interior valleys and basins, aridity and excessive summer heat have limited the development of agriculture.<ref name=":0" /> The Grande Kabylie is a zone of impoverished small farm villages tucked into convoluted mountains.<ref name=":0" />
The High Plateaus and the Saharan Atlas
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Stretching from the Moroccan border the Tell Atlas, including the Djebel Babor formation, is the dominant northwestern mountain range. Stretching more than 600 kilometers eastward from the Moroccan border, the high plateau area (often referred to by the French name Hautes Plaines or Hauts Plateaux) consist of undulating, steppe-like plains lying between the Tell and Saharan Atlas ranges.<ref name=":0" /> The elevation averages between Template:Convert in elevation in the west, dropping to Template:Convert in the east.<ref name=":0" /> The climate is so dry that these plains are sometimes thought of as part of the Sahara.<ref name=":0" /> The plateau area is covered by alluvial debris formed when the mountains eroded.<ref name=":0" /> An occasional ridge projects through the alluvial cover to interrupt the monotony of the landscape.<ref name=":0" />
Higher and more continuous than the Tell Atlas, the Sahara Atlas range is formed of three massifs: the Ksour Range near the Moroccan border, the Amour Range, and the Ouled-Naïl Range south of Algiers.<ref name=":0" /> The mountains, which receive more rainfall than those of the High Plateaus, include some good grazing land.<ref name=":0" /> Watercourses on the southern slopes of these massifs disappear into the desert but supply the wells of numerous oases along the northern edge of the desert, of which Biskra, Laghouat, and Béchar are the most prominent.<ref name=":0" />
Northeastern Algeria
[edit]Eastern Algeria consists of a massif area extensively dissected into mountains, plains, and basins.<ref name=":0" /> It differs from the western portion of the country in that its prominent topographic features do not parallel the coast.<ref name=":0" /> In its southern sector, the steep cliffs and long ridges of the Aurès Mountains create an almost impenetrable refuge that has played an important part in the history of the Maghrib since Roman times.<ref name=":0" /> Near the northern coast, the Petite Kabylie Mountains are separated from the Grande Kabylie range at the eastward limits of the Tell by the Soummam River.<ref name=":0" /> The coast is predominantly mountainous in the far eastern part of the country, but limited plains provide hinterlands for the port cities of Bejaïa, Skikda, and Annaba.<ref name=":0" /> In the interior of the region, extensive high plains mark the region around Sétif and Constantine; these plains were developed during the French colonial period as the principal centers of grain cultivation.<ref name=":0" /> Near Constantine, salt marshes offer seasonal grazing grounds to seminomadic sheep herders.<ref name=":0" />
The Sahara
[edit]The Algerian portion of the Sahara extends south of the Saharan Atlas for Template:Convert to the Niger and Mali frontiers.<ref name=":0" /> The desert is an otherworldly place, scarcely considered an integral part of the country.<ref name=":0" /> Far from being covered wholly by sweeps of sand, however, it is a region of great diversity.<ref name=":0" /> Immense areas of sand dunes called areg (sing., erg) occupy about one-quarter of the territory.<ref name=":0" /> The largest such region is the Grand Erg Oriental (Great Eastern Erg), where enormous dunes Template:Convert high are spaced about Template:Convert apart.<ref name=":0" /> Much of the remainder of the desert is covered by rocky platforms called humud (sing., hamada), and almost the entire southeastern quarter is taken up by the high, complex mass of the Ahaggar and Tassili n'Ajjer highlands, some parts of which reach more than Template:Convert.<ref name=":0" /> Surrounding the Ahaggar are sandstone plateaus, cut into deep gorges by ancient rivers, and to the west a desert of pebbles stretches to the Mali frontier.<ref name=":0" />
The desert consists of readily distinguishable northern and southern sectors, the northern sector extending southward a little less than half the distance to the Niger and Mali frontiers.<ref name=":0" /> The north, less arid than the south, supports most of the few persons who live in the region and contains most of the desert's oases.<ref name=":0" /> Sand dunes are the most prominent features of this area's topography, but between the desert areas of the Grand Erg Oriental and the Grand Erg Occidental (Great Western Erg) and extending north to the Atlas Saharien are plateaus, including the Tademaït and a complex limestone structure called the M'zab where the Mozabite Berbers have settled.<ref name=":0" /> The southern zone of the Sahara is almost totally arid and is inhabited only by the Tuareg nomads and, recently, by oil camp workers.<ref name=":0" /> Barren rock predominates, but in some parts of Ahaggar and Tassili n'Ajjer alluvial deposits permit garden farming.<ref name=":0" />
Climate and hydrology
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Northern Algeria is in the temperate zone and enjoys a mild, Mediterranean climate.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> It lies within approximately the same latitudes as southern California and has somewhat similar climatic conditions.<ref name=":1" /> Its broken topography, however, provides sharp local contrasts in both prevailing temperatures and incidence of rainfall.<ref name=":1" /> Year-to-year variations in climatic conditions are also common.<ref name=":1" /> This area, the most inhabited in Algeria, is commonly referred to as the Tell.
In the Tell, temperatures in summer average between Template:Convert and in winter drop to Template:Convert.<ref name=":1" /> Winters are not cold, but the humidity is high and houses are seldom adequately heated.<ref name=":1" /> In eastern Algeria, the average temperatures are somewhat lower, and on the steppes of the High Plateaus winter temperatures hover only a few degrees above freezing.<ref name=":1" /> A prominent feature of the climate in this region is the sirocco, a dusty, choking south wind blowing off the desert, sometimes at gale force.<ref name=":1" /> This wind also occasionally reaches into the coastal Tell.<ref name=":1" />
In Algeria only a relatively small corner of the Sahara lies across the Tropic of Cancer in the torrid zone, but even in winter, midday desert temperatures can be very hot.<ref name=":1" /> After sunset, however, the clear, dry air permits rapid loss of heat, and the nights are cool to chilly.<ref name=":1" /> Enormous daily ranges in temperature are recorded.<ref name=":1" />
Rainfall is fairly abundant along the coastal part of the Tell, ranging from Template:Convert annually, the amount of precipitation increasing from west to east.<ref name=":1" /> Precipitation is heaviest in the northern part of eastern Algeria, where it reaches as much as Template:Convert in some years.<ref name=":1" /> Farther inland the rainfall is less plentiful.<ref name=":1" /> Prevailing winds that are easterly and northeasterly in summer change to westerly and northerly in winter and carry with them a general increase in precipitation from September to December, a decrease in the late winter and spring months, and a near absence of rainfall during the summer months.<ref name=":1" />
Terrain
[edit]| Land use | (2014 est.) |
|---|---|
| • Arable land | 18.02% |
| • Permanent crops | 2.34% |
| • Permanent pastures | 79.63% |
| • Forest | 0.82% |
| • Other | 81.80% |
| Irrigated land | Template:Convert |
Clearing of land for agricultural use and cutting of timber over the centuries have severely reduced the once bountiful forest wealth.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Forest fires have also taken their toll.<ref name=":2" /> In the higher and wetter portions of the Tell Atlas, cork oak and Aleppo pine grow in thick soils.<ref name=":2" /> At lower levels on thinner soils, drought-resistant shrubs predominate.<ref name=":2" /> The grapevine is indigenous to the coastal lowlands, and grasses and scrub cover the High Plateaus.<ref name=":2" /> On the Saharan Atlas, little survives of the once extensive forests of Atlas cedar that have been exploited for fuel and timber since antiquity.<ref name=":2" />
The forest reserves in Algeria were severely reduced during the colonial period.<ref name=":2" /> In 1967 it was calculated that the country's forested area extended over no more than Template:Convert of terrain, of which Template:Convert were overgrown with brushwood and scrub.<ref name=":2" /> By contrast, woodlands in 1830 had covered Template:Convert.<ref name=":2" /> In the mid-1970s, however, the government embarked on a vast reforestation program to help control erosion, which was estimated to affect Template:Convert of arable land annually.<ref name=":2" /> Among projects was one to create a barrage vert (green barrier) more or less following the ridge line of the Saharan Atlas and extending from Morocco to the Tunisian frontier in a zone Template:Convert long and up to Template:Convert wide.<ref name=":2" />
In Algeria forest cover is around 1% of the total land area, equivalent to 1,949,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 1,667,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 1,439,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 510,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 6% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 80% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 18% private ownership and 2% with ownership listed as other or unknown.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The barrage vert consists principally of Aleppo pine, a species that can thrive in areas of scanty rainfall.<ref name=":2" /> It is designed to restore a damaged ecological balance and to halt the northern encroachment of the Sahara.<ref name=":2" /> By the early 1980s, the desert had already penetrated the hilly gap between the Saharan Atlas and the Aurès Mountains as far as the town of Bou Saâda, a point well within the High Plateaus region.<ref name=":2" /> The barrage vert project was ended in the late 1980s because of lack of funds.<ref name=":2" />
Algeria had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.22/10, ranking it 106th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Statistics
[edit]Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc<ref name="factbook" />
Natural hazards: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season<ref name="factbook" />
Template:AnchorEnvironment – current issues: air pollution in major cities; soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water<ref name=factbook>Template:Cite book</ref>
Environment – international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban<ref name=factbook/>
Protected areas
[edit]Algeria has a number of protected areas including National Parks and nature reserves. An example of such a protected area is the Djebel Babor Nature Reserve within the Djebel Babor Mountains;<ref>Template:WWF ecoregion</ref> the Djebel Babor is also one of the few relict habitats for the endangered Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus.<ref>C. Michael Hogan, (2008) Barbary Macaque: Macaca sylvanus, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Strõmberg.</ref>
The national parks in Algeria are: Ahaggar, Belezma, Chréa, Djurdjura, El Kala, Gouraya, Tassili n'Ajjer, Taza, Théniet El Had, and Tlemcen.
Extreme points
[edit]Elevation extremes:
- Lowest point: Chott Melrhir: Template:Convert<ref name="factbook" />
- Highest point: Mount Tahat: Template:Convert<ref name="factbook" />
Points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location:Template:Citation needed
- Northernmost point – Cap Takouch, Annaba Province or Cap Bougaroûn, Skikda province
- Easternmost point – the tripoint with Niger and Libya, Djanet Province
- Southernmost point – unnamed location on the border with Mali east of the Malian village of In-Abalen, In Guezzam Province
- Westernmost point – the western section of the border with Morocco/Western Sahara, Tindouf Province (Note: Algeria does not have a westernmost point, the border being formed by a line of longitude)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Template:Algeria topics Template:Geography of Africa Template:Africa topic