Editing Geography of Algeria (section)

==Geographic regions==

=== The Tell ===
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 [[Isaak Mountain|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===
[[File:Les monts Atlas.png|thumb|The Tell Atlas, High Plateaus and the Saharan Atlas area|300px]]
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 {{Convert|1100-1300|m}} in elevation in the west, dropping to {{Convert|400|m}} 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 [[Oasis|oases]] along the northern edge of the desert, of which [[Biskra]], [[Laghouat]], and [[Béchar]] are the most prominent.<ref name=":0" />

===Northeastern Algeria===
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 [[Ancient Rome|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, Algeria|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===
The Algerian portion of the Sahara extends south of the Saharan Atlas for {{Convert|1500|km}} 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 {{Convert|2|to|5|m|ft|spell=in}} high are spaced about {{Convert|40|m}} 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 {{Convert|2000|m}}.<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 people|Mozabite]] [[Berber people|Berbers]] have settled.<ref name=":0" /> The southern zone of the Sahara is almost totally arid and is inhabited only by the [[Tuareg people|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" />