Mount Tahat () is the highest mountain in
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 ...
. It sits at an elevation of 2,908 metres (9,541 ft). Other sources indicate an elevation of .
Tahat is also the highest peak in the
Hoggar Mountains
The Hoggar Mountains (; Berber: ''idurar n Ahaggar'') are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km2.
The Hoggar Mountains are home to ...
. Its nearest city is
Tamanrasset
Tamanrasset (; ), also known as Tamanghasset or Tamenghest, is an oasis city and capital of Tamanrasset Province in southern Algeria, in the Ahaggar Mountains. It is the chief city of the Algerian Tuareg. It is located at an altitude of . As of ...
which is located to the south.
Mount Tahat is of
volcanic
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...
origin. It is located in an arid, rocky high plateau area of the central
Sahara Desert
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
. The
Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...
inhabit this region. To the north lie the
Tassili n'Ajjer
Tassili n'Ajjer (Berber: ''Tassili n Ajjer'', ; "Plateau of rivers") is a mountain range in the Sahara desert, located in south-eastern Algeria. It holds one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world, and covers an ar ...
mountains, which contain
cave painting
In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin. These paintings were often c ...
s dating from a period between 8000 and 2000 BC. The rock art is pastoral, showing cattle breeding and hunting of animals that are today exclusively found in the southern Sahara's climate.
See also
*
List of Ultras of Africa
*
Atakor volcanic field
Atakor volcanic field ("Atakor" in Tuareg means "swollen part, knot at the end of something") is a volcanic field in Algeria. It lies in the Hoggar Mountains, Hoggar mountains and consists of a variety of volcanic features such as lava flows and a ...
References
External links
Mount Tahat Virtual Aerial Video
Tahat
Tahat
Sahara
Tuareg
Highest points of countries
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