Aurès Mountains

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Map showing the location of the Atlas Mountains across North Africa

The Aurès is a region in East Algeria as well as an extension of the Atlas mountain range that lies to the east of the Saharan Atlas in eastern Algeria and northwestern Tunisia. Not as tall as the Grand Atlas of Morocco, the Aurès mountains are far more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs closer to the coast. The highest peak, at 2328 m, is the Djebel Chélia.

Historically, the Aurès served as a refuge for the Berber tribes, forming a base of resistance against the Romans, Vandals, Byzantine, and Arabs (such as in the case of the Kahina).

Standing alone in eastern Algeria, the Aurès mountains represent one of the less developed areas in the Maghreb. The Shawia (eastern Berber) population practices traditional transhumance, farming fixed stone terraces in the mountains where they grow sorghum and vegetables, but seasonally moving livestock to relatively warm areas in the lowland valleys where they pitch tents or live in other temporary structures and tend livestock through the winter.