Atlas

a mountain chain in northwestern Africa. It runs from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, traversing Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis. The system consists in the main of two mountain folds. The little Atlas is nearest the sea coast; the great Atlas borders the Sahara. The two folds are separated in places by sandy plains, a hundred miles wide, and again they knot together. The highest peak of the little Atlas rises to a height of 7,611 feet; the highest peaks of the great Atlas are from 11,000 to 14,600 feet high. The range reaches its greatest altitude in Morocco. The mountain folds are composed chiefly of limestones, clays, schists, and gneiss. There are veins of copper, iron, silver, and lead. The Atlas region is not particularly deficient in moisture. There are sections of great fertility. The mountains are covered for the most part with forests of oak, pine, poplar, and wild olives. Grasses, shrubs, and flowering plants abound. The loftiest summits rise above the timber line, and, though in a sub-tropical latitude, they are seldom without a covering of snow. Numerous rivers rise in the mountains, but all are short. Those on one side reach the Atlantic or the Mediterranean. Streams on the other side are lost in the sands of the Sahara. Springs reappearing give rise here and there to an oasis. The range is by no means formidable to travelers. Caravans, following well known lines of travel, wind through rocky defiles. The French coast is well provided with railways. Several long spurs reach up into the more populous interior, but no line (1910) has as yet crossed the main range into southern Algeria. See Algeria; Morocco; Fez