The Tebaga Gap of southern

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

is a low

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

located in rough rocky broken country giving entry to the inhabited

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

to the north and east from much less hospitable desert dominated terrain in southern and south-western Tunisia. The pass separates the Matmata hills to the east running roughly north to south from the Djebel Tebaga hills, another line of high ground to the west of the gap running east–west. The terrain of the region about the pass was of great tactical importance during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939–1940 and in 1943. North and west of this region is the

great salt lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, partic ...

known as the Chott el Djerid or Chotts. West of the Matmata Hills, the terrain is dry country, the

Jebel Dahar Jebel Dahar () is a low sandstone mountain chain of the Médenine Governorate of Tunisia. Geography The chain is oriented on a north-south axis, bisecting the south of Tunisia. At the northern end, it meets the east-west-oriented Jebel Tebaga. T ...

, and then impassable sand of the

Grand Erg Oriental The Grand Erg Oriental (English: 'Great Eastern Sand Sea') is a large ''Erg (landform), erg'' or "field of sand dunes" in the Sahara Desert. Situated for the most part in Sahara Desert, Saharan lowlands of northeast Geography of Algeria, Algeria, t ...

. The

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Gabès Gabès (, ; ), also spelled Cabès, Cabes, and Kabes, is the capital of the Gabès Governorate in Tunisia. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès, the city has a population of 167,863, making it the 6th largest city in Tunisia. Located 327 ...

lies on the coast where the plain meets the route from the Tebaga Gap. North of Gabès, the road to

Sfax Sfax ( ; , ) is a major port city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a ...

, an ancient caravan route to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and points east, passes between the sea and the Chotts and this was Montgomery's only route north, a way blocked by the Mareth Line. Many buildings in the region are subterranean because of the harsh desert temperature changes and lack of moisture.

References

Landforms of Tunisia Mountain passes of Africa {{Tunisia-geo-stub

See also

References