Geography of Algeria
Overview of the geography of Algeria
Algeria comprises 2,381,740 square kilometres (919,590 sq mi) of land, more than 80% of which is desert, in North Africa, between Morocco and Tunisia. It is the largest country in Africa since the 2011 breakup of Sudan, and the creation of South Sudan. Its Arabic name, Al Jazair (the islands), is believed to derive from the rocky islands along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. 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. This area includes Morocco, Tunisia, and the northwestern portion of Libya known historically as Tripolitania.
Size and boundaries
Land boundaries:Total: 6,734 km (4,184 mi)Border countries: Libya 982 km (610 mi), Mali 1,376 km (855 mi), Mauritania 463 km (288 mi), Morocco 1,559 km (969 mi), Niger 956 km (594 mi), Tunisia 965 km (600 mi), Western Sahara 42 km (26 mi).
Area – comparative: slightly larger than the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Saudi Arabia
Coastline: 2,148 km (1,335 mi)
Maritime claims: Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi), contiguous zone: 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi); exclusive fishing zone: 32 to 52 nmi (59 to 96 km; 37 to 60 mi)
Geographic regions
The Tell
The fertile Tell is the country's heartland, containing most of its cities and population. 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. Its eastern terminus is the Soummam River.
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.
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This entry incorporates text from “Geography of Algeria” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.