Middle Atlas

The Middle Atlas (Berber: Atlas Anammas, ) is part of the Atlas mountain range lying in Morocco, a mountainous country with more than 100,000 km² or 15% of its landmass rising above 2,000 meters. The Middle Atlas is the northernmost of three Atlas Mountains chains that define a large plateaued basin extending eastward into Algeria. South of the Middle Atlas and separated by the Moulouya and Um Er-Rbiâ rivers, the High Atlas stretches for 700 km with a succession of peaks among which ten reach above 4,000 meters. North of the Middle Atlas and separated by the Sebou River, the Rif mountains are an extension of the Baetic Cordillera (Baetic mountains, which include the Sierra Nevada) in the south of Spain. The Barbary Ape is native to the Middle Atlas, and chief populations occur only in restricted range in parts of Morocco and Algeria.

Snow persists in the Middle Atlas in the winter and can appear starting at 600 m above sea level. Its attractive rock coast is not very hospitable. 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.

Geography and ecology

The Middle Atlas provinces cover 23,000 km² in area, and comprise 18% of the total mountainous surface of Morocco. The provinces of Khènifra, Ifrane, Boulmane, Sefrou, Khemisset, El Hajeb as well as parts of the provinces of Taza and of......
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