Hoggar Mountains

File:Hoggar8.jpg in the Hoggar Mountains]]

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This mountainous region is located about {{convert|1500|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of the capital, Algiers. The area is largely rocky desert with an average elevation of more than {{convert|900|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level. The highest peak, Mount Tahat, is at {{convert|2908|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The mountains are primarily composed of metamorphic rock approximately 2 billion years old, although there are areas where more recent volcanic activity has laid down much newer rock. Several of the more dramatic peaks, such as Ilamen, are the result of erosion wearing away extinct volcano domes, leaving behind the more resistant material that plugged the volcanic cones.

File:HoggarTopography.png

Assekrem is a famous and often visited point where Charles de Foucauld built a hermitage in 1911.{{cite book|last=Sattin|first=Anthony Ham, Nana Luckham, Anthony|title=Algeria|year=2007|publisher=Lonely Planet|location=Footscray, Vic.|isbn=978-1741790993|page=[https://archive.org/details/algeria00anth/page/188 188]|url=https://archive.org/details/algeria00anth|url-access=registration|quote=assekrem.|edition=1st}}

The highlands are believed to be one of the main sources of the Tamanrasset River, an ancient river that flowed during the African humid period, and named after the main city near the Hoggar Mountains, Tamanrasset, built in a desert valley or wadi that was part of the ancient watercourse.

The Hoggar Mountains range typically experiences hot summers, with a cold winter climate. Temperatures fall below freezing in the winter. Rainfall is rare and sporadic year-round. However, since the climate is less extreme than in most other areas of the Sahara, the mountains are a major location for biodiversity, including a number of relict species. The Hoggar Mountains are part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion.

Vegetation in this area includes trees such as Vachellia tortilis, Vachellia seyal, myrtle and Tamarix aphylla which are scattered throughout the area. Other plants may include Citrullus colocynthis and Calotropis procera.

Slightly to the west of the Hoggar range, a population of the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) remained viable into the 20th century, but is now thought to be extirpated within this entire region.{{cite web |first=C. Michael |last=Hogan |year=2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209234758/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=35993 |archive-date=December 9, 2010 |url=http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=35993 |title=Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus |work=GlobalTwitcher.com |publisher=N. Stromberg }} Relict populations of the West African crocodile persisted in the Hoggar Mountains until the early 20th century.{{cite journal |last1=Brito |first1=J. C. |last2=Martínez-Freiría |first2=F. |last3=Sierra |first3=P. |last4=Sillero |first4=N. |last5=Tarroso |first5=P. |display-authors=3 |year=2011 |title=Crocodiles in the Sahara Desert: An Update of Distribution, Habitats and Population Status for Conservation Planning in Mauritania |journal=PLOS One |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=e14734 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0014734 |pmid=21364897 |pmc=3045445 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...614734B |citeseerx=10.1.1.293.4325 |doi-access=free }}

Analysis of collected scat in 2006 showed the presence of the Northwest African cheetah in the region.{{cite thesis |last=Busby |first=G. B. J. |title=The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) in Northern Africa : A Non-Invasive Genetic Study of Carnivores from the Ahaggar Mountains, Southern Algeria |date=2006 |type=Master's thesis |publisher=Imperial College London |url=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~some2456/docs/Busby_GBJ_North_African_Cheetah_thesis.pdf |access-date=2010-09-22 |archive-date=2020-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921110628/http://users.ox.ac.uk/~some2456/docs/Busby_GBJ_North_African_Cheetah_thesis.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite journal |last1=Busby |first1=G. B. J. |first2=D. |last2=Gottelli |first3=S. |last3=Durant |first4=T. |last4=Wacher |first5=L. |last5=Marker |first6=F. |last6=Belbachir |first7=K. |last7=De Smet |first8=A. |last8=Belbachir-Bazi |first9=A. |last9=Fellous |first10=M. |last10=Belghoul |display-authors=3 |title=A Report from the Sahelo Saharan Interest Group - Office du Parc National de l'Ahaggar Survey, Algeria (March 2005) - Part 5: Using Molecular Genetics to study the Presence of Endangered Carnivores |date=November 2006 |journal=Unpublished Report |url=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~some2456/docs/Carniv_Mol_Gen_Ahaggar_Report_2006.pdf |access-date=2010-09-22 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112439/http://users.ox.ac.uk/~some2456/docs/Carniv_Mol_Gen_Ahaggar_Report_2006.pdf |url-status=dead }} Between August 2008 and November 2010, four individuals were recorded by camera traps.{{cite journal |author1=Belbachir, F. |author2=Pettorelli, N. |author3=Wacher, T. |author4=Belbachir-Bazi, A. |author5=Durant, S.M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2015 |title=Monitoring rarity: the critically endangered Saharan cheetah as a flagship species for a threatened ecosystem |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue= 1|pages=e0115136 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0115136 |pmid=25629400 |pmc=4309643|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1015136B |doi-access=free }} A single cheetah was filmed and photographed by Algerian naturalists in 2020 in the national park in the Atakor volcanic field.{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/critically-endangered-saharan-cheetah-filmed-in-algeria-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade |author=Agence France-Presse |date=24 May 2020 |title=Critically Endangered Saharan Cheetah Seen in Algeria For The First Time in a Decade |website=Sciencealert.com |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=3 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603172503/https://www.sciencealert.com/critically-endangered-saharan-cheetah-filmed-in-algeria-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade |url-status=live }} The park also contains a population of herbivores such as the saharan subspecies of the barbary sheep and the Dorcas gazelle.

The park has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of spotted, crowned and Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse, Pharaoh eagle-owls, pallid harriers, greater hoopoe-larks, bar-tailed and desert larks, pale rock martins, fulvous babblers, white-crowned and mourning wheatears, desert sparrows and trumpeter finches.{{cite web |url= https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/parc-national-de-lahaggar-iba-algeria|title= Parc National de l'Ahaggar|author= |date=2024|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 2024-10-26}}

Prehistoric settlement is evident from extant rock paintings dating to 6000 BC.{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Haggett |year=2001 |title=Encyclopedia of World Geography |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=0-7614-7289-4 }} The Hoggar Massif is the land of the Kel Ahaggar Tuareg. The tomb of Tin Hinan, the woman believed to be the matriarch of the Tuareg, is located at Abalessa, an oasis near Tamanrasset.

The hermitage of Charles de Foucauld, which continues to be inhabited by a few Catholic monks, is at the top of the Assekrem plateau in the Hoggar Mountains.{{Cite book |last=Ham |first=Anthony |title=Algeria. Lonely Planet |year=2007 |page=188 |language=English}}

Underground atomic tests were conducted by France in the mountains in the 1960s.

{{Panorama

|image = File:Panoramique view from the Assekrem.jpg

|height = 218

|alt = Panorama of the Ahaggar mountains

|caption = {{center|Panorama of the Ahaggar Mountains}}

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• Saharan rock art
• Teffedest Mountains

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |first=Jeremy |last=Keenan |author-link=Jeremy Keenan |year=1977 |title=The Tuareg: People of Ahaggar |publisher=Allen Lane, Penguin Books |location=London |isbn=0-7139-0636-7 }}

{{Commons category|Hoggar}}

• {{in lang|fr}} [https://archive.today/20041013070443/http://www.cybersahara.com/article.php3?id_article=33 A website about the park]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929152708/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/wdpa/sitedetails.cfm?siteid=23177&level=nat Park data on UNEP-WPMC]
• [http://www.algeria.com/national-parks/ahaggar/ Ahaggar National Park - The Biodiverse Home of the Saharan Cheetah]

{{National Parks of Algeria}}

{{Mountains of Algeria |state=collapsed}}

{{Major African geological formations}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:National parks of Algeria

Category:Important Bird Areas of Algeria

Category:Mountain ranges of Algeria

Category:Saharan rock art

Category:Sahara

Category:Tuareg

Category:Geography of Tamanrasset Province

Category:Volcanoes of Algeria

Category:Tourist attractions in Tamanrasset Province