Aures Mountains

The eastern Aurès rises where the Saharan Atlas enters northeastern Algeria. Djebel Chélia reaches 2,328 metres in Khenchela Province, while the Belezma Range extends northwest and joins the Tell Atlas to the Saharan Atlas. The mountains sit within the much longer Atlas chain of northern Africa. Their height, slopes and narrow valleys separate high pastures from warmer lowlands and create distinct zones for farming, stock keeping and movement.

The range has served as shelter and bulwark for Berber tribes resisting Romans, Vandals, Byzantines and Arabs across centuries. It is the principal home of the Chaoui people, whose mountain economy relies on fixed stone terraces and seasonal transhumance. Households grow sorghum, other grains and vegetables at higher elevations, then move cattle to warmer valleys for winter. This movement across elevations made the rugged terrain productive without requiring large areas of flat arable land. The terrain thus joins old traditions of refuge with a careful mountain agriculture.