Geography of Beni Farah

Beni Farah village (administrative name: Ain Zaatout) is perched on the southwestern slopes of the Aures mountains in the northeast of Algeria at the latitude of 35° 8' north and longitude of 5° 50' east. It is currently administrated by the wilaya (department) of Biskra where Beni Farah makes the north part of the department.

The total area of the municipality of Ain Zaatout is 171.19 Km². According to the July 1998 general census, there are 4015 permanent residents in the village leading to a population density of 23 inhabitant / Km².

Beni Farah is rugged and mountainous in the north, with expanses of semi-desert in the south. It is bordered by El Kantara, Lotaya, Branis, Djemmoura, Thagousth and Maafa making it at the edge of the Berber speaking zone of Aures. It stretches along 35 km from north to south. The two major cities close to Beni Farah are Biskra (50 Km southwards) the capital of Ziban and Batna (75 Km northwards) capital of the Aures. To reach the village from Batna one has to drive along the main road linking Batna to Biskra through Ain Touta (Route National RN3) and then towards the small village of Moulia. You should leave the main road (RN3) at around the 55th km from Batna for the smaller road (Route de Wilaya) on the left side towards Moulia and going up to the mountains. From the very entrance of Moulia the road is difficult, steep, narrow and quite dangerous. It continuous like this for 25 Km until the southern edges of Beni Farah towards Biskra. Beni Farah is also linked to Biskra through the road to Taref, RN87, then linking to the RN3 just north of the Sfa pass (Thizi na Sfa).

Beni Farah has two main built up areas: Aham'nea (or Tizi n'Ammar) to the north and Thaklihth (the fort) to the south. For the latter the western part, which is the historical Ah Frah, is built on an isolated rocky hill protected by a deep oued (Ighzar n'Mazzer) to its back and overlooked by Ljamaa l'Kbir, the most distinctive building there with its white washed square minaret. This is typical to most villages in Aures. Houses in the eastern part are built along the slopes of a chain of hills that runs from north to south and comprises the hills of Albassan, Almaqbarth n'Talba, Lamsalla and Ish m'Aaqal until Thaqarboosth.

The people have developed sophisticated methods for farming terraces producing cereals, olive, dates, figs, pomegranates, apricots and many vegetables. People also raise sheep and goats. The main farming activity is located at the fertile Kasha plain that extends from Ain Sh'ka to Fadden Sder.

According to the 1998 general census, there are 4000 palm trees in Beni Farah and 8703.3 hectares of forests served with 20 km of unpaved roads. Locals own 1092 sheep and 1625 goats.

Geospatial data

Adhrer Nah'Frah (Beni Farah's Mountain)

The northern part of Beni Farah is called Adhrer Nah'Frah (Beni Farah's mountain) which is a part of the Saharan Atlas. It is confined between Oued Labiad to the east and Oued El Kantra to the west. This green part is covered by evergreen oak and juniper trees known locally as zimba. The rugged terrain and deep valleys of Adhrer Nah'Frah made it a much praised place for the guerrilla forces of the National Liberation Army during the Algerian war of independence (1954-1962). The mountain has an altitude of more than 1000 m. The green part of the mountain has been stretched to its present borders as a consequence of wood cutting and overgrazing. There were timid initiatives to replant some of the barren parts of the mountain but grazing and absence of serious follow up have lead to their failure.

North-western part of Adhrer Nah'Frah (Photo courtesy of Djemoui Berbouche)

Ighzar n'Qasha in the south of Ah Frah (Photo courtesy of Djemoui Berbouche)

Climate

Beni Farah has hot summers, and bitterly cold winters. July and August are the hottest months with a temperature of 30-40° C on daytime but evenings and nights are cooler. December, January and February are short and cold. Temperature may go beyond the freezing level during the nights and mornings. The rain season starts from September to April. Cold winds are common. The snow, once a frequent sight in the village, is seldom seen these days which lead to a continuous shortage of water supplies specially from the main fountains in the village. This has undermined the whole activity of terrace farming that once was a thriving activity.

Vegetation

The mountainous part of Beni Farah is covered by evergreen oaks (locally called ashakreedh), juniper trees (locally called zimba) and esparto alfa grass. Such a vegetation has the ability to resist droughts and high altitudes. The area is also the place of many medicinal herbs like artemesia (two variants: izri and thagoufth), mzoushan, etc. The oueds contain oleander (alili) and can sometimes be very thick as is the case between Ain Sh'ka and Thikhlileen. Only scrubby vegetation grows on the southern slops.

See also Medicinal herbs and wild flowers of Beni Farah.

Wild life

There are evidences that the Atlas mountains were a natural habitat for elephants, lions, tigers, hippopotamuses, crocodiles and much of the animals presently living in Africa's Savannah. Nowadays wild boars, hyenas, jackals and foxes are the main wild mammals found in Beni Farah and in the Saharian Atlas in general. Larger predators have apparently been exterminated not so long ago. The last tiger killed in Beni Farah can be traced to a century or so ago at a place called al'Ghar ni Ksel (Tiger's cave) in the Mezzer valley by a chieftain from the Ah Wadda clan.

Hares, Algerian hedgehog (locally called insi) and jerboas live in here too. Spiny-tailed agamas (locally called tab) used to be found southwards but are now almost extinct. There are also sights of wild cats (safsh in local Shawi) and crested porcupine (the North African type the locals call dharban). Scorpions, snakes and chameleons are numerous. Chameleons particularly risk extension because of savage collection practiced by children for selling at nearby cities for the alleged curing capabilities of their skins.

There are also varieties of lizards in Beni Farah like the common wall lizard (locally called imjaddem) , moorish gecko, sand lizard (locally called thazalmoomkth) and the green lizard (locally known as azalmoomi).

The types of butterflies easily spotted in Beni Farah are swallowtails and tortoise shells.

There are also important numbers of field crickets, red- and blue-winged grasshoppers and at least three types of locust (tree locust, desert locust and Italian locust). Immigrating locusts used to cause havoc in orchards and groves in the past meanwhile locals collect bags of these insects and eat them!

Birds

When farming was a thriving activity varieties of birds lived in the farmland. Although the number of these creatures has fallen we are still able to find ravens (jaref), house sparrows (afroukh al hidh), great tits (thouzint), robins (boulhanni), owls (boumaaraf), woodpeckers (anakkar), larks (tibbib), swallows (thashak'th), greenfinches and goldfinches. Hawks (attir) and eagles (Al Haggath) are rarely seen these days and used to live in the high rocks east of the village. Rock doves and partridges (thissakreen) are also present particularly during good harvesting seasons.

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