1LOCATION， SIZE， AND EXTENT
Situated in northwestern Africa along the Mediterranean Sea，
Algeria is the second-largest country on the continent. Compara-
tively， it is slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas， with a
total area of 2，381，740 sq km (919，595 sq mi). Extending about
2，400 km (1，500 mi) E-W and 2，100 km (1，300 mi) N-s， Algeria is
bounded on the N by the Mediterranean Sea， on the E by Tunisia
and Libya， on the SE by Niger， on the sw by Mali， on the w by
Mauritania， and on the w and Nw by the Western Sahara and
Morocco; the total boundary length is 7，341 km (4，561 mi).
Land boundary and claims disputes and claims with Libya and
Tunisia were unresolved as of late 1994.
Algeria s capital city， Algiers， is located on the northern
boundary of the country on the Mediterranean Sea.
2TOPOGRAPHY
The parallel mountain ranges of the Tell or Maritime Atlas，
comprising coastal massifs and northern inland ranges， and the
Saharan Atlas divide Algeria into three basic longitudinal zones
running generally east-west: the Mediterranean zone or Tell; the
High Plateaus， including the regions of Great and Small Kabilia;
and the Sahara Desert， accounting for at least 80% of Algeria s
total land area. About half of Algeria is 900 m (3，000 ft) or more
above sea level， and about 70% of the area is from 760 to 1，680
m (2，500 to 5，500 It) in elevation. The highest point is Mount
Tahat (2，918 m/9，573 It)， in the Ahaggar Range of the Sahara.
Only the main rivers of the Tell have water all year round， and
even then the summer flow is small. None of the rivers are
navigable. The mountainous areas of the High Plateaus are
poorly watered; most of the rivers and streams (oueds) flow irreg-
ularly， since they depend for water upon an erratic rainfall. In the
High Plateaus are many salt marshes and dry or shallow salt lakes
(sebkhas or shotts). Farther south， the land becomes increasingly
arid， merging into the completely dry desert.
Northwestern Algeria is a seismologically active area. Earth-
quakes on 10 October 1980 in a rural area southwest of Algiers
left over 2，500 persons dead and almost 100，000 homeless.
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