THE ATLAS MOUNTAIN RANGES IN MOROCCO

The main mountain range of Morocco and the Maghreb, oriented from west-southwest to east-northeast, the High Atlas stretches for over 700 kilometers, from the Atlantic to eastern Morocco, over a width of 50 to 100 kilometers. Several peaks exceed 4,000 meters (highest point: djebel Toubkal, 4,165 m). The range, formed by a mass of Paleozoic rocks surrounded by sedimentary bedrock, dates back mainly to Tertiary movements. It is cut by short, deep valleys. The passes are high, exceeding 2,000 meters (Tizi n-'Test, 2,225 m; Tizi n-'Tichka, 2,267 m). The relatively humid northern slopes are largely covered by holm oak forests. It is snow-covered in winter from 1,200 m upwards. The aridity of the south-facing slope only supports steppe vegetation of sagebrush and esparto grass.

Photography: Almond trees in the High Atlas, Morocco

Human occupation is significant, but differs profoundly to the east and west. The eastern High Atlas is sparsely populated by Tamazirt-speaking Berbers. These are semi-nomadic pastoralists, who settled relatively late, living mainly from goat and sheep farming and spending many months, or the whole year, in tents. The western High Atlas is more densely populated by Berbers of the Tachelhit dialect. They are sedentary farmers who have occupied the mountains for a very long time, probably since the Neolithic period; making the best use of the grazing land, arable land and water, they are farmers, arboriculturists and stockbreeders. They grow barley, corn, vegetables, olives, almonds and walnuts on small terraced irrigated fields. But resources are scarce, although there are deposits of iron ore, copper, lead, zinc and manganese. Trade and handicrafts, which provide only meagre supplements, and tourism, which is developing (winter sports resort at Oukaïmeden, Toubkal national park), have not succeeded in keeping the inhabitants.

The road network is limited and many valleys are still very isolated. The High Atlas has only a handful of small towns scattered across the foothills, most of them within Marrakech's catchment area.

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