Jbel Saghro

Jbel Saghro
Adrar Sarhro / جبل صغرو

View of the Jbel Saghro above N'Kob
Highest point
Peak Amalou n'Mansour
Elevation 2,712 m (8,898 ft)
Coordinates 31°9′0″N 5°39′0″W / 31.15000°N 5.65000°W / 31.15000; -5.65000Coordinates: 31°9′0″N 5°39′0″W / 31.15000°N 5.65000°W / 31.15000; -5.65000[1]
Dimensions
Length 320 km (200 mi) ENE/WSW
Width 110 km (68 mi) NNW/SSE
Geography

Location of the Jbel Saghro in the Maghreb area

Location Morocco
Parent range Anti-Atlas

The Jbel Saghro or Djebel Sahrho (Arabic: جبل صغرو, Berber: Adrar Sarhro) is a mountain range in southern Morocco.[2] It is located south of the High Atlas and east of the Anti-Atlas in the northwest of Africa, northeast of Taliouine and southwest of Ouarzazate.

Geography

The Jbel Saghro is an eastern prolongation of the Anti-Atlas, separated from it by the valley of the Draâ. To the north of the range runs the valley of the Dadès, separating it from the massive High Atlas Range.

Saghro in the Tamazight language means drought, an apt name considering that the Jbel Saghro is the driest mountain area of the whole Atlas Mountain System. Since it is located in the inland side of the greater range this massif does not benefit from the Atlantic Ocean winds that bring humidity to the Anti-Atlas ranges further to the west as well as other ocean-facing ranges further north. Annual rainfall is only 100 mm in the southern slopes and 300 mm at the summits. However, the desolation of the harsh landscapes of the massive dry mountains with the many areas of bare rock and the austere, lunar beauty does not leave anyone unimpressed. Therefore these mountain area is popular with trekkers and adventure-tourists. [3]

The highest summit of the range is 2,712 m high Amalou n'Mansour, located southeast of the village of Iknioun;[4] other notable peaks are 2,592 m high Jbel Kouaouch,[5][6] Jbel Afougal (2,196 m) and Jbel Amlal (2,447 m). One of the most important mountain passes of the range is the 2,283 m high Tizi n'Tazazert.

The Jbel Saghro area is a traditional region of the Aït Atta Berber tribe. It is sparsely inhabited, the only notable villages being N'Kob and Tazzarine.[7] There are cave paintings in certain areas of the range.[8]

Features

Landscape of the Bab n'Ali in the Jbel Saghro
A Couscous plate from Tazzarine.
Mountain trekking in the Jbel Saghro.

See also

References

  1. Google Earth
  2. Des Montagnes du Sarho aux dunes de Merzouga
  3. Sud-Maroc; Massif aux paysages lunaires
  4. Hervé Galley, Montagnes du Maroc: trekking et ski de randonnée, Éditions Olizane, 2004 (ISBN 2880863023)
  5. Djebel Kouaouch 2592 m
  6. Galleries - Marokko
  7. M. Aït Hamza, H. Popp, Randonnée culturelle dans le Djebel Saghro, Bayreuth, Rabat, 2004 (ISBN 3-9809181-3-0)
  8. Alain Rodrigue, L'art rupestre au Maroc : les sites principaux. p. 19
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