El Djouf

The desert south of the Tindouf basin is a country of exposed rock, broad plains and isolated hills. It belongs to the western Saharan region of the Réguibat ridge, whose ancient crystalline rocks extend from Mauritania into Algeria. To the east the Eglab massif rises beyond the plains, while the sand ridges of the Erg Iguidi cross the surrounding desert. Scarce rainfall leaves much of this landscape bare and forbidding.