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58-523: The terms for 'mountain' are Adrar and adras in some Berber languages , and these terms are believed to be cognates of the toponym Atlas . The mountains are home to a number of animals and plants which are mostly found within Africa but some of which can be found in Europe. Many of these species are endangered and a few are already extinct . The weather is generally cool but summers are sunny, and

116-595: A UNESCO World Heritage Site . Film is a major industry in Ouarazazate and constitute a major part of its economy. Its success is due to the presence of desert landscapes and historical architecture, the availability of trained technicians, low productions costs, and Morocco's streamlined process for obtaining film permits. Most productions are from the USA or Western Europe, but the number of Indian and Chinese productions has also increased in recent years. According to

174-557: A dialect continuum . There is a debate as to how to best sub-categorize languages within the Berber branch. Berber languages typically follow verb–subject–object word order . Their phonological inventories are diverse. Millions of people in Morocco and Algeria natively speak a Berber language, as do smaller populations of Libya , Tunisia , northern Mali , western and northern Niger , northern Burkina Faso and Mauritania and

232-612: A number of key loanwords related to pastoralism that are of Berber origin, including the terms for sheep and water/ Nile . This in turn suggests that the C-Group population—which, along with the Kerma culture , inhabited the Nile valley immediately before the arrival of the first Nubian speakers—spoke Afroasiatic languages. Berber languages are primarily oral languages without a major written component. Historically, they were written with

290-541: A policy of Arabisation, which, after the imposition of the Circular of July 1976, encompassed the spheres of education, public administration, public signage, print publication, and the judiciary. While primarily directed towards the erasure of French in Algerian society, these policies also targeted Berber languages, leading to dissatisfaction and unrest amongst speakers of Berber languages, who made up about one quarter of

348-665: A prospective new constitution, it does not have official status in Libya as in Morocco and Algeria. As areas of Libya south and west of Tripoli such as the Nafusa Mountains were taken from the control of Gaddafi government forces in early summer 2011, Berber workshops and exhibitions sprang up to share and spread the Berber culture and language. In Mali and Niger, some Tuareg languages have been recognized as national languages and have been part of school curriculums since

406-655: A study published in 2020, about 20 to 50 foreign film and television productions are shot in Ouarzazate every year. In 2017, the heads of Moroccan film studios claimed that about 80 percent of staff used on film productions were Moroccan. Atlas Studios is the largest movie studios in the world in terms of land area. It was established in 1983. Movies were shot here including The Living Daylights , Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra , Lawrence of Arabia , The Man Who Would Be King , The Mummy , Kingdom of Heaven , Gladiator , Hanna , and Babel . It

464-518: Is also a Jewish cemetery, which is no longer in use. During the French period, Ouarzazate expanded considerably as a garrison town, administrative centre and customs post and a church (Eglise Saint Therese) was built in 1931. It is home to the Kasbah Taourirt , which was the kasbah of the former caïd and later owned by T'hami El Glaoui . The Krupp field gun which secured Glaoui power

522-593: Is displayed outside the kasbah today. The city was part of the route of the 2006 and 2007 Dakar Rally . The nearby Ouarzazate solar power station , co-funded by the Arab League, was connected to the Moroccan power grid in February 2016. On 1 November 2023, Ouarzazate along with Casablanca joined UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network . Ouarzazate is at an elevation of 1,160 metres (3,810 ft) in

580-1437: Is listed as negligible, and the last Sokna speaker is thought to have died in the 1950s. There are an estimated 50,000 Djerbi speakers in Tunisia , based on figures from 2004. Sened is likely extinct, with the last speaker having died in the 1970s. Ghadamés, though not indigenous to Tunisia, is estimated to have 3,100 speakers throughout the country. Chenini is one of the rare remaining Berber-speaking villages in Tunisia. There are an estimated 20,000 Siwi speakers in Egypt , based on figures from 2013. As of 2018 and 2017 respectively, there were an estimated 200 speakers of Zenaga and 117,000 of Tamasheq in Mauritania . As of 2009, there were an estimated 122,000 Tamasheq speakers in Burkina Faso. There are an estimated 1.5 million speakers of various Berber languages in France. A small number of Tawellemmet speakers live in Nigeria. In total, there are an estimated 3.6 million speakers of Berber languages in countries outside of Morocco and Algeria, summarized as follows: After independence, all

638-419: Is often included as an Eastern Berber language alongside Siwa, Sokna, and El Foqaha. These approaches divide the Berber languages into Northern, Southern (Tuareg), Eastern, and Western varieties. The vast majority of speakers of Berber languages are concentrated in Morocco and Algeria. The exact population of speakers has been historically difficult to ascertain due to lack of official recognition. Morocco

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696-493: Is sometimes used to refer to a specific subset of Berber languages, such as Central Tashlhiyt. "Tamazight" can also be used to refer to Standard Moroccan Tamazight or Standard Algerian Tamazight , as in the Moroccan and Algerian constitutions respectively. In Morocco, besides referring to all Berber languages or to Standard Moroccan Tamazight, "Tamazight" is often used in contrast to Tashelhit and Tarifit to refer to Central Atlas Tamazight . The use of Berber has been

754-600: Is the country with the greatest number of speakers of Berber languages. As of 2022, Ethnologue estimates there to be 13.8 million speakers of Berber languages in Morocco, based on figures from 2016 and 2017. In 1960, the first census after Moroccan independence was held. It claimed that 32 percent of Moroccans spoke a Berber language, including bi-, tri- and quadrilingual people. The 2004 census found that 3,894,805 Moroccans over five years of age spoke Tashelhit, 2,343,937 spoke Central Atlas Tamazight, and 1,270,986 spoke Tarifit, representing 14.6%, 8.8%, and 4.8% respectively of

812-529: The Amazigh languages or Tamazight , are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family . They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who are indigenous to North Africa . The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written. Historically, they have been written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in

870-610: The Anti-Atlas , which was formed in the Paleozoic Era (~300 million years ago) as the result of continental collisions . North America , Europe and Africa were connected millions of years ago. The Anti-Atlas Mountains are believed to have originally been formed as part of the Alleghenian orogeny . These mountains were formed when Africa and America collided and were once a chain rivaling today's Himalayas . Today,

928-638: The Atlantic Ocean in the southwest of Morocco toward the northeast to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the city of Tafilalt (altogether a distance of approximately 500 kilometres or 300 miles). In the south it borders the Sahara . The easternmost point of the anti-Atlas is the Jbel Saghro range and its northern boundary is flanked by sections of the High Atlas range . It includes

986-716: The High Atlas , as well as for the closure of the Strait of Gibraltar and the formation of the Alps and the Pyrenees . However, there is a lack of evidence for the nature of the subduction in the Atlas region, or for the thickening of the Earth's crust generally associated with continental collisions. One of the most striking features of the Atlas to geologists is the relative small amount of crustal thickening and tectonic shortening despite

1044-719: The Kabyles use the term "Leqbayel" to refer to their own people, while the Chaouis identified themselves as "Ishawiyen" instead of Berber/Amazigh. Since modern Berber languages are relatively homogeneous, the date of the Proto-Berber language from which the modern group is derived was probably comparatively recent, comparable to the age of the Germanic or Romance subfamilies of the Indo-European family. In contrast,

1102-646: The Libyco-Berber script . Early uses of the script have been found on rock art and in various sepulchres; the oldest known variations of the script dates to inscriptions in Dugga from 600 BC. Usage of this script, in the form of Tifinagh , has continued into the present day among the Tuareg people . Following the spread of Islam , some Berber scholars also utilized the Arabic script . The Berber Latin alphabet

1160-470: The Maghreb countries to varying degrees pursued a policy of Arabisation , aimed partly at displacing French from its colonial position as the dominant language of education and literacy. Under this policy the use of the Berber languages was suppressed or even banned. This state of affairs has been contested by Berbers in Morocco and Algeria—especially Kabylie —and was addressed in both countries by affording

1218-841: The Mediterranean coast and joins with the Saharan Atlas in Eastern Algeria and Tunisia. The highest summit of the Tell Atlas is the 2,308 m (7,572 ft) Lalla Khadidja in the Djurdjura range of Kabylia . The western end of the Tell Atlas merges with the Middle Atlas range in Morocco. The area immediately to the south of the Tell Atlas is the high plateau of the Hautes Plaines , with lakes in

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1276-573: The Siwa Oasis of Egypt . There are also probably a few million speakers of Berber languages in Western Europe . Tashlhiyt , Kabyle , Central Atlas Tamazight , Tarifit , and Shawiya are some of the most commonly spoken Berber languages. Exact numbers are impossible to ascertain as there are few modern North African censuses that include questions on language use, and what censuses do exist have known flaws. Following independence in

1334-574: The 16th century, Sheikh Abu al-'Abaas Ahmed bin Abdellah al-Wizkiti al-Warzazi, emir of the qasba of Ouarzazate and father of Lalla Masuda , helped establish Saadi control over the Sous - Dra'a region. Ouarzazate was home to a thriving Jewish community. In 1954, about 170 Jews lived in the Mellah. The "Old Synagogue", a synagogue said to be nearly 300 years old, is located in Ouarzazate. There

1392-510: The 1960s. In linguistics, the phonology of Berber languages is written with the International Phonetic Alphabet , with the following exceptions: Ouarzazate Ouarzazate ( / ˌ w ɑː r z ə ˈ z æ t , - ˈ z ɑː t / ; Arabic : ورزازات , romanized :  Warzāzāt , IPA: [warzaːˈzaːt] ), nicknamed the door of the desert , is a city and capital of Ouarzazate Province in

1450-561: The 20th century, the Berber languages have been suppressed and suffered from low prestige in North Africa . Recognition of the Berber languages has been growing in the 21st century, with Morocco and Algeria adding Tamazight as an official language to their constitutions in 2011 and 2016 respectively. Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing and influence from the Arabic language , as well as from other languages. For example, Arabic loanwords represent 35% to 46% of

1508-816: The Atlas mountain range. It covers parts of Algeria and Tunisia . The Aurès natural region is named after the range. Flora in the mountains include the Atlas cedar , evergreen oak and many semi-evergreen oaks such as the Algerian oak . Animals that live in the area include the Barbary macaque (misnamed as the Barbary ape), Barbary leopard , Barbary stag , Barbary sheep , Atlas Mountain badger , Cuvier's gazelle , North African boar , striped hyena , Red fox , northern bald ibis , Algerian nuthatch , dipper , and Atlas mountain viper . Many animals used to inhabit

1566-438: The Atlas mountains such as the Atlas bear , North African elephant , North African aurochs , bubal hartebeest and Atlas wild ass , but these subspecies are all extinct. Barbary lions are currently extinct in the wild, but descendants exist in captivity. Berber languages Northern Berber Kabyle Atlas Zenati Western Berber Eastern Berber Tuareg The Berber languages , also known as

1624-644: The Djebel Siroua, a massif of volcanic origin with the highest summit of the range at 3,304 m. The Jebel Bani is a much lower range running along the southern side of the Anti Atlas. The High Atlas in central Morocco rises in the west at the Atlantic coast and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. It has several peaks over 4,000 m (13,000 ft), including

1682-568: The High Atlas, crossing Algeria from the Moroccan border and into Tunisia. The Aures Mountains are often presented as being the easternmost part of the Saharan Atlas. Though not as high as the High Atlas, they reach similar altitudes as the Tell Atlas range that runs to the north of them and closer to the coast. The highest peak in the range, outside of the Aures Mountains, is the 2,236 m (7,336 ft) high Djebel Aissa. They mark

1740-608: The Yemen (2011) and The Wages of Fear (2024) were shot here, as was part of the TV series Game of Thrones . It was the filming location for the fictional city of Agapenta in the fourth season of the Netflix series Outer Banks . Its name comes from a Berber phrase meaning "without noise" or "without confusion". For a long time, Ouarzazate was a small crossing point for African traders on their way to northern Morocco and Europe. In

1798-620: The area are Ouarzazate , Tahannaout , Amizmiz , Imlil , Tin Mal and Ijoukak . The Middle Atlas is completely in Morocco and is the northernmost of its three main Atlas ranges. The range lies north of the High Atlas, separated by the Moulouya and Oum Er-Rbia rivers, and south of the Rif mountains, separated by the Sebou River . To the west are the main coastal plains of Morocco with many of

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1856-545: The average temperature there is 25 °C. The Atlas Mountains have earned a reputation as a trekkers’ den, attracting adventurers year-round. The basement rock of most of Africa was formed during the Precambrian supereon and is much older than the Atlas Mountains lying on the continent. The Atlas was formed during three subsequent phases of Earth's geology. The first tectonic deformation phase involves only

1914-538: The case of Zenaga and Tuareg. Kossmann roughly groups the Berber languages into seven blocks: The Zenatic block is typically divided into the Zenati and Eastern Berber branches, due to the marked difference in features at each end of the continuum. Otherwise, subclassifications by different linguists typically combine various blocks into different branches. Western Moroccan languages, Zenati languages, Kabyle, and Ghadames may be grouped under Northern Berber ; Awjila

1972-632: The exception of Zenaga, Tetserret, and Tuareg, the Berber languages form a dialect continuum . Different linguists take different approaches towards drawing boundaries between languages in this continuum. Maarten Kossmann notes that it is difficult to apply the classic tree model of historical linguistics towards the Berber languages: [The Berber language family]'s continuous history of convergence and differentiation along new lines makes an definition of branches arbitrary. Moreover, mutual intelligibility and mutual influence render notions such as "split" or "branching" rather difficult to apply except, maybe, in

2030-515: The form of Tifinagh . Today, they may also be written in the Berber Latin alphabet or the Arabic script , with Latin being the most pervasive. The Berber languages have a similar level of variety to the Romance languages , although they are sometimes referred to as a single collective language, often as "Berber", "Tamazight", or "Amazigh". The languages, with a few exceptions, form

2088-462: The formation of many thick intracontinental sedimentary basins including the present Atlas. Most of the rocks forming the surface of the present High Atlas were deposited under the ocean at that time. In the Paleogene and Neogene Periods (~66 million to ~1.8 million years ago), the mountain chains that today constitute the Atlas were uplifted, as the land masses of Europe and Africa collided at

2146-595: The highest summit in North Africa, Toubkal (4,167 m or 13,671 ft), and further east Ighil m'Goun (4,071 m or 13,356 ft), the second major summit of the range. At the Atlantic and to the southwest, the range drops abruptly and makes a transition to the coast and the Anti-Atlas range. To the north, in the direction of Marrakesh , the range descends less abruptly. On the heights of Ouarzazate

2204-534: The important altitude of the mountain range. Recent studies suggest that deep processes rooted in the Earth's mantle may have contributed to the uplift of the High and Middle Atlas. The Atlas are rich in natural resources . There are deposits of iron ore , lead ore , copper , silver , mercury , rock salt , phosphate , marble , anthracite coal and natural gas among other resources. The range can be divided into four general regions: The Anti-Atlas extends from

2262-461: The inclusion of Tamazight as an official language. The 2000 Charter for Education Reform marked a change in policy, with its statement of "openness to Tamazight." Planning for a public Tamazight-language TV network began in 2006; in 2010, the Moroccan government launched Tamazight TV . On July 29, 2011, Tamazight was added as an official language to the Moroccan constitution. After gaining independence from France in 1962, Algeria committed to

2320-527: The language official status and introducing it in some schools. After gaining independence from France in 1956, Morocco began a period of Arabisation through 1981, with primary and secondary school education gradually being changed to Arabic instruction, and with the aim of having administration done in Arabic, rather than French. During this time, there were riots amongst the Amazigh population, which called for

2378-506: The major cities and, to the east, the high barren plateau that lies between the Saharan and Tell Atlas. The high point of the range is the jbel Bou Naceur (3340 m). The Middle Atlas experiences more rain than the ranges to the south, making it an important water catchment for the coastal plains and important for biodiversity. It is home to the majority of the world's population of Barbary macaque . The Saharan Atlas of Algeria runs east of

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2436-527: The massif is cut through by the Draa Valley which opens southward. It is mainly inhabited by Berber people, who live in small villages and cultivate the high plains of the Ourika Valley . Near Barrage Cavagnac there is a hydroelectric dam that has created the artificial lake Lalla Takerkoust . The lake serves also as a source for fish for the local fishermen. The largest villages and towns of

2494-564: The middle of a bare plateau south of the High Atlas Mountains , with a desert to the city's south. Ouarzazate has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh ). The city is hot and dry in summer, but can be very cold in winter, with icy winds coming from the High Atlas Mountains. The Kasbah Taourirt is the city's historic kasbah (fortified residence, or tighremt in Berber languages). It

2552-488: The northern edge of the Sahara Desert . The mountains see some rainfall and are better suited to agriculture than the plateau region to the north. Today, most of the population of the region are Berbers ( Imazighen ). The Tell Atlas is a mountain chain over 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges and stretching from Eastern Morocco to Tunisia, and through Algeria. It parallels

2610-479: The population. After the 1994-1995 general school boycott in Kabylia, Tamazight was recognized for the first time as a national language. In 2002, following the riots of the Black Spring , Tamazight was recognized for the second time as a national language , though not as an official one. This was done on April 8, 2003. Tamazight has been taught for three hours a week through the first three years of Algerian middle schools since 2005. On January 5, 2016, it

2668-785: The region of Drâa-Tafilalet , south-central Morocco . Ouarzazate is a primary tourist destination in Morocco during the holidays, as well as a starting point for excursions into and across the Draa Valley and the desert. The fortified village Aït Benhaddou west of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The Ouarzazate area is a noted film-making location, with Morocco's biggest studios inviting many international companies to work here. Films such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Living Daylights (1987), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Kundun (1997), Legionnaire (1998), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Salmon Fishing in

2726-408: The remains of this chain can be seen in the Fall Line region in the Eastern United States . Some remnants can also be found in the later formed Appalachians in North America. A second phase took place during the Mesozoic Era (before ~66 My). It consisted of a widespread extension of the Earth's crust that rifted and separated the continents mentioned above. This extension was responsible for

2784-413: The southern end of the Iberian Peninsula . Such convergent tectonic boundaries occur where two plates slide towards each other forming a subduction zone (if one plate moves underneath the other), and/or a continental collision (when the two plates contain continental crust ). In the case of the Africa-Europe collision, it is clear that tectonic convergence is partially responsible for the formation of

2842-523: The split of the group from the other Afroasiatic sub-phyla is much earlier, and is therefore sometimes associated with the local Mesolithic Capsian culture . A number of extinct populations are believed to have spoken Afroasiatic languages of the Berber branch. According to Peter Behrens and Marianne Bechaus-Gerst, linguistic evidence suggests that the peoples of the C-Group culture in present-day southern Egypt and northern Sudan spoke Berber languages. The Nilo-Saharan Nobiin language today contains

2900-473: The subject of debate due to its historical background as an exonym and present equivalence with the Arabic word for "barbarian." One group, the Linguasphere Observatory , has attempted to introduce the neologism "Tamazic languages" to refer to the Berber languages. Amazigh people typically use "Tamazight" when speaking English. Historically, Berbers did not refer to themselves as Berbers/Amazigh but had their own terms to refer to themselves. For example,

2958-452: The surveyed population, or roughly 28.2% of the surveyed population combined. The 2014 census found that 14.1% of the population spoke Tashelhit, 7.9% spoke Central Atlas Tamazight, and 4% spoke Tarifit, or about 26% of the population combined. These estimates, as well as the estimates from various academic sources, are summarized as follows: Algeria is the country with the second greatest number of speakers of Berber languages. In 1906,

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3016-413: The total population speaking Berber languages in Algeria, excluding the thinly populated Sahara region, was estimated at 1,305,730 out of 4,447,149, or 29%. Secondary sources disagree on the percentage of self-declared native Berber speakers in the 1966 census, the last Algerian census containing a question about the mother tongue. Some give 17.9% while other report 19%. Kabyle speakers account for

3074-502: The total vocabulary of the Kabyle language and represent 51.7% of the total vocabulary of Tarifit . Almost all Berber languages took from Arabic the pharyngeal fricatives /ʕ/ and /ħ/, the (nongeminated) uvular stop /q/, and the voiceless pharyngealized consonant /ṣ/. Unlike the Chadic , Cushitic , and Omotic languages of the Afro-Asiatic phylum, Berber languages are not tonal languages. "Tamazight" and "Berber languages" are often used interchangeably. However, "Tamazight"

3132-1059: The vast majority of speakers of Berber languages in Algeria. Shawiya is the second most commonly spoken Berber language in Algeria. Other Berber languages spoken in Algeria include: Shenwa , with 76,300 speakers; Tashelhit, with 6,000 speakers; Ouargli , with 20,000 speakers; Tamahaq , with 71,400 speakers; Tugurt , with 8,100 speakers; Tidikelt , with 1,000 speakers; Gurara , with 11,000 speakers; and Mozabite , with 150,000 speakers. Population estimates are summarized as follows: As of 1998, there were an estimated 450,000 Tawellemmet speakers, 250,000 Air Tamajeq speakers, and 20,000 Tamahaq speakers in Niger . As of 2018 and 2014 respectively, there were an estimated 420,000 speakers of Tawellemmet and 378,000 of Tamasheq in Mali . As of 2022, based on figures from 2020, Ethnologue estimates there to be 285,890 speakers of Berber languages in Libya : 247,000 speakers of Nafusi , 22,800 speakers of Tamahaq, 13,400 speakers of Ghadamés , and 2,690 speakers of Awjila . The number of Siwi speakers in Libya

3190-405: The wet season and salt flats in the dry. The eastern half of the Tell Atlas has the most humid climate of North Africa, with annual precipitation reaching well above 1,000 mm (39 in), and sometimes over 1,500 mm (59 in) like in the Collo Peninsula or near Ain Draham . An important amount of snow falls on the summits in winter. The Aurès Mountains are the easternmost portion of

3248-453: Was announced that Tamazight had been added as a national and official language in a draft amendment to the Algerian constitution; it was added to the constitution as a national and official language on February 7, 2016. Although regional councils in Libya's Nafusa Mountains affiliated with the National Transitional Council reportedly use the Berber language of Nafusi and have called for it to be granted co-official status with Arabic in

3306-435: Was developed following the introduction of the Latin script in the nineteenth century by the West. The nineteenth century also saw the development of Neo-Tifinagh, an adaptation of Tuareg Tifinagh for use with other Berber languages. There are now three writing systems in use for Berber languages: Tifinagh, the Arabic script, and the Berber Latin alphabet , with the Latin alphabet being the most widely used today. With

3364-413: Was owned and expanded by the Glaoui family in the late 19th century and the 20th century. Built mainly of rammed earth , it is one of the most impressive examples of this type of structure, which characterizes the architecture of the predominantly Berber-inhabited Atlas mountain and oasis regions of Morocco. A short distance west of the city is Aït Benhaddou , a historic ksar (fortified village) and

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