Petite Kabylie or Petite Kabylia (

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

: Tamurt n Iqbayliyen,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: al-Qabā'il as-Saghra, القبائل الصغرى,

Maghrebi Arabic Maghrebi Arabic, often known as ''ad-Dārija'' to differentiate it from Literary Arabic, is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb. It includes the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Hassaniya and Saharan Arabic di ...

: Qbayel es-Sghira) 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 ...

in the mountainous area of northern

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 ...

. The Petite Kabylie is part of the greater

Kabylie Kabylia or Kabylie (; in Kabyle language, Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ; ), meaning "Land of the Tribes" is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kaby ...

region.

Geography

The Petite Kabylie is located in the mountainous area of the Bibans and the Babor Range, subranges of the Tell Atlas range bordering the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. The Petite Kabylie is separated from the Grande Kabylie by the Soummam Valley. The Petite Kabylie spreads over several administrative divisions of Algeria:

Béjaïa Province The Béjaïa Province (Kabyle language, Kabyle: ''Tawilayt n Bgayet''; , Latn, ar, Wilāyat Bijāyah; or ) is a provinces of Algeria, province of Algeria in the Kabylie region. With a population of 984,050 inhabitants in 2019, with a density o ...

, part of Setif Province (Ath Yaala, Ath Ourtilan, Draa Kebila, Bouandas, Babor), part of Bordj Bou Arréridj Province (Ath Laalam, El Main, El Mehir, Ath Djafar, Ath Khelifa, Ath Sidi Brahim, Mensourah, Rabiâa, Tizi El Khemis, Tizi Ikachouchan, Tassamert,) and the part of Bouira Province bordering the provinces of Béjaïa and Bordj Bou Arreridj. An ampler definition could include the Arabophone regions that by tradition are culturally

Jijel Province Jijel () is a provinces of Algeria, province (''wilaya'') in Algeria, on the eastern Mediterranean coast. The capital is Jijel (Phoenician name : ''Igilgili''). Taza National Park is located in this province. History The province was created f ...

, and only the western parts of Mila Province and the western parts of

Skikda Province Skikda () is a provinces of Algeria, province (''wilaya'') of Algeria, on its eastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastline, with 1.095.666 inhabitants in 2019, With a natural annual growth rate estimated at 1.22%. Geography The Skikda Pr ...

up to Collo and Tamalous.

Ecology

Some of Petite Kabylie is forested with

Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests is an ecoregion, in the Temperate coniferous forests, temperate coniferous forest biome, which occupies the high mountain ranges of North Africa. The term is also a botanically recognized plant association ...

. This locale offers one of the few remaining disjunctive

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s for the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Barbary macaque The Barbary macaque (''Macaca sylvanus''), also known as Barbary ape, is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar. It is the type species of the genus ' ...

, ''Macaca sylvanus'', a

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

species which prehistorically held a much wider range.C. Michael Hogan, 2008

References

* * Protected Areas and World Heritage Programme (1988
''Algeria''
Geography of Algeria Natural regions of Africa Geography of Béjaïa Province Geography of Sétif Province Geography of Bordj Bou Arréridj Province Geography of Bouïra Province {{Algeria-geo-stub

Geography

Ecology

See also

References