Atlasmountains

Atlas mountains, a chain of mountains in the north-west of Africa extending from Cape Nun on the Atlantic shore to the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean, thus traversing Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli. It consists of three or four parallel ranges rising stage by stage from the basin of the Mediterranean and increasing in altitude from east to west. The two larger of these ranges are called the Great (N.) and the Little (S.) Atlas. In Tripoli the average height is 2,000 feet, in Tunis 4,500, in Algeria 7,700, but in Morocco Mount Miltsin (anc. Atlas) reaches 11,400 feet, Jebel Tedla 13,000 feet, and Mount Henleb, near the Algerian frontier, rivals these two peaks. Several lateral spurs are thrown out north and south from the main ridges, one of these terminating in Cape Spartel opposite Gibraltar. The entire chain serves as a barrier between the cultivated district on the coast and the barren sands of the interior.