Algeria comprises 2,381,741 square kilometers of land, more than four-fifths of which is desert, in northern Africa, between Morocco and Tunisia. It is the largest country in Africa. Its Arabic name, Al Jazair, derives from the name of the capital Algiers, after the small islands formerly found in its harbor. It has a long Mediterranean coastline, most of which is more properly termed the Alboran Sea, which is the westernmost element of the Mediterranean Sea. The northern portion, an area of mountains, valleys, and plateaus between the Mediterranean Sea 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.
The Barbary macaque, also known as Barbary ape or magot, is a species of macaque unique for its distribution outside Asia. Found in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco along with a small population of uncertain origin in Gibraltar, the Barbary macaque is one of the best-known Old World monkey species.
Petite Kabylie or Petite Kabylia is a natural region in the mountainous area of northern Algeria. The Petite Kabylie is part of the greater Kabylie region.
Jijel, the classical Igilgili, is the capital of Jijel Province in north-eastern Algeria. It is flanked by the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Corniche Jijelienne and had a population of 131,513 in 2008.
The Middle Atlas is a mountain range in Morocco. It is part of the Atlas mountain range, a vast mountainous region with more than 100,000 km2, 15 percent of its landmass, rising above 2,000 metres. The Middle Atlas is the northernmost and second highest of three main Atlas Mountains chains of Morocco. To south, separated by the Moulouya and Um Er-Rbiâ rivers, lies the High Atlas. The Middle Atlas form the westernmost end of a large plateaued basin extending eastward into Algeria, also bounded by the Tell Atlas to the north and the Saharan Atlas to the south, both lying largely in Algeria. North of the Middle Atlas and separated by the Sebou River, lie the Rif mountains which are an extension of the Baetic System, which includes the Sierra Nevada in the south of Spain. The basin of the Sebou is not only the primary transportation route between Atlantic Morocco and Mediterranean Morocco but is an area, watered by the Middle Atlas range, that constitutes the principal agricultural region of the country.
Originally from the Atlas mountains and the Rif mountains of Morocco, the Barbary macaque population in Gibraltar is the only wild monkey population on the European continent. Although most populations in Africa are experiencing declining populations due to hunting and deforestation, the population of Barbary monkeys in Gibraltar is increasing. Currently, some 300 animals in five troops occupy the Upper Rock area of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve, though they make occasional forays into the town. As they are a tailless species, they are also known locally as Barbary apes or rock apes, despite being monkeys. The local people simply refer to them as monos when conversing in Spanish or Llanito.
The national park of Djurdjura is one of the national parks of Algeria. It is located in Kabylie and is named after the Djurdjura Range of the Tell Atlas.
The Taza National Park is one of the smaller national parks of Algeria. It is located in Jijel Province in the region of the Tell Atlas, and is named after the nearby city of Taza. Its total area is 3,807 hectares and it includes parts of the forested area of the Guerrouch massif. The lower parts of the park seldom experience frost and are relatively warm and dry, while the peaks may have a covering of snow in winter. The annual precipitation in the park ranges from 1,000 to 1,400 millimetres and the annual mean temperature is around 18 °C (64 °F).
The Chréa National Park(Arabic:الحديقة الوطنية الشريعة) is one of the largest national parks of Algeria. It is located in Blida Province, named after Chréa, a town near this park. The park, located in a mountainous area known as the Blidean Atlas includes the ski station of Chréa, one of the few ski stations in Africa where skiing can be done on natural snow, and the grotto of Chiffa.
Akfadou is a town in northern Algeria in the Béjaïa Province. Alternatively the town and its local area are known as Agfadou. This locale is noted for its local population of Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus. Notable features in the area include Gouraya National Park.
Ifrane National Park is a national park located in the Middle Atlas mountain range, in Morocco. Its territory extends over the Western part of the Middle Atlas mountains and areas within the provinces of Ifrane and Boulmane. It was established in 2004,and covers an area of 125.000 ha. Much of the park is forested with Atlas cedar. Ifrane National Park is one of the few remaining habitats for the Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus; this primate prehistorically had a much broader range in North Africa, but currently survives as an endangered species in narrowly restricted and fragmented habitats.
Chréa is a town in Algeria, located in Blida Province, Ouled Yaïch District, in a mountainous area named Tell Atlas, near Blida.
Cèdre Gouraud Forest is a woodland area in the Middle Atlas Mountain Range in Morocco. It was named for the French general Henri Gouraud. This forest is located on National Route 8 between Azrou and Ifrane. The forest is notable as a habitat for a sub-population of Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus.
Chiffa is a town and gorge in the Tell Atlas Mountains of northern Algeria. This gorge is one of the few habitat areas in Algeria that supports a sub-population of the Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus.
Guerrouch is a region of Algeria within the Petite Kabylie of the Tell Atlas Mountain Range. The Guerrouch is one of the few remaining habitats for the endangered primate Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus; prehistorically this primate had a much wider distribution, prior to deforestation activity by the expanding human population.
Pic des Singes is a peak in northern Algeria, northwest of the town of Béjaïa. It is located in the Cap Carbon area of the Tell Atlas range, on the Mediterranean coast.
The Tizguit Valley is a river-cut landform in the Middle Atlas mountain range, in the Fès-Meknès region of Morocco.
The Inaouen River is a watercourse in Morocco. It is tributary of the Sebou River. The river rises in the Middle Atlas mountain range. A major dam, the Idriss I, was constructed on the Inaouen River in 1973.
