The Hodna () is a

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

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 ...

located between the Tell and Saharan Atlas ranges at the eastern end of the '' Hautes Plaines''. It is a vast depression lying in the northeastern section of M'Sila Province and the western end of

Batna Province Batna Province (, Latn, ar, Wilāyat Bātnah) is a provinces of Algeria, province of Algeria, in the region of Aurès. The capital is Batna (city), Batna. Localities in this province include N'Gaous, Merouana and Timgad. Belezma National Park i ...

History

The Hodna region was home to the Kingdom of Hodna, born out of the

Mauro-Roman Kingdom The Mauro-Roman Kingdom (Latin: ), also described as the Kingdom of Masuna, was a Christianity, Christian Berbers, Berber kingdom which dominated much of the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis from the capital city o ...

in the

post-classical era In Human history, world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 CE to 1500 CE, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically an ...

Geography

The Hodna region has a length of about 120 km in an NW - SE direction and a width of about 80 km. It is characterized by the Chott El Hodna, an

endorheic An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

, in its centre with seasonal

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

and saline pools and marshes. A thin film of water collects during wet seasons on the level terrain of the large lake basin, which becomes a salt flat when it dries. The elevation of the lake's surface is slightly below 400 m, while the surrounding

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

-like plain, characterized by wadis and oases, averages between 500 and 600 meters in elevation in the communes near the lake. The Hodna natural region gives its name to the

Hodna Mountains The Hodna Mountains (, ) are a mountain massif in northeastern Algeria. It rises on the northern side of the Hodna natural region in the M'Sila Province, near the town of Maadid around 200 km southeast of Algiers. These mountains are one of ...

located to the north. Its southern limit is marked by the Ouled Nail Range. There are no mountains in its western limit, where the plateau stretches further westwards. The northern part of the Hodna is composed of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

and the southern part is mainly sandy. The lowest area of the basin is covered by the '' sebkha'', the salt lake, with a surface of 76 000 ha of naked salty clay that is seldom covered with water and is completely devoid of vegetation. The Hodna is a steppe where the climate is harsh, with very dry summers, cold winters and very irregular precipitation. Formerly all the inhabitants of the Hodna were

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

s. The soil is poor and local agriculture is limited to the grazing of sheep and goats on grassy high plateau areas and to some cereal cultivation. There are uncultivated areas of ''djerr'', small hillocks, to the north and to the east. The mountains have good reserves of water and there are freshwater springs in the area, but historically they have not been properly exploited.J. Despois ''Le Hodna (Algérie)''
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References

External links

Mohamed Meouak, ''Le Hodna occidental entre régions méditerranéennes et plaines désertiques : organisation des terroirs, communautés rurales et productions agricoles au Moyen Âge''

Persée : L'évolution du nomadisme dans les hautes plaines

Introduction: Les hautes plaines de l'Est de l'Algérie
Geography of Algeria Natural regions of Africa Geography of M'Sila Province Geography of Batna Province {{Batna-geo-stub

History

Geography

See also

References

External links