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Adrar

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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(Berber for "uplands"), the name of various districts of the Saharan desert, Northern Africa. Adrar Suttuf is a hilly region forming the southern part of the Spanish protectorate of the Rio de Oro. Adrar or Adrar el Jebli, otherwise Adghagh, is a plateau north-east of Timbuktu. It is the headquarters of the Awellimiden Tuareg (see Tuareg and Sahara). Adrar n'Ahnet and Adrar Adhafar are smaller regions in the Ahnet country south of Insalah. Adrar Temur, the country usually referred to when Adrar is spoken of, is in the western Sahara, 300 m. north of the Senegal and separated on the north-west from Adrar Suttuf by wide valleys and sand dunes. Adrar is within the French sphere of influence. In general barren, the country contains several oases, with a total population of about 10,000. In 1900 the oasis of Atar, on the western borders of the territory, was reached by Paul Blanchet, previously known for his researches on ancient Berber remains in Algeria. (Blanchet died in Senegal on the 6th of October 1900, a few days after his return from Adrar.) Atar is inhabited by Arab and Berber tribes, and is described as a wretched spot. The other centres of population are Shingeti, Wadan and Ujeft, Shingeti being the chief commercial centre, whence caravans take to St Louis gold-dust, ostrich feathers and dates. A considerable trade is also done in salt from the sebkha of'Ijil, in the north-west. Adrar occupies the most elevated part of a plateau which ends westwards in a steep escarpment and falls to the east in a succession of steps.

Adrar or Adgar is also the name sometimes given to the chief settlement in the oasis of Tuat in the Algerian Sahara.