Grand Erg Oriental small but ancient settlement of Ghadames at the Libyan frontier. Another and better road from Hassi Messaoud goes south, also crossing the grand erg where it passes a well called "Hassi Tartrat", before reaching the erg's far side. Further south lies the Ahaggar mountains. The cities of Wargla and Touggourt lie outside the western limits of the erg. Nearby, within the accepted boundaries of the "Grand Erg Oriental", the landscape is described as being "practically free from [sand] dunes" evidently due to strong, persistent winds. Petroleum and other hydrocarbons have been extracted in Algeria, from areas in and surrounding the
Geography of Algeria Geography of Algeria Algeria comprises 2,381,741 square kilometers of land, more than four-fifths of which is desert, in northern Africa, between Morocco and Tunisia. It is the largest country in Africa. Its Arabic name, Al Jazair (the islands), derives from the name of the capital Algiers ("Al Jazair" in Arabic), after the small islands formerly found in its harbor. It has a long Mediterranean coastline, most of which is more properly termed the Alboran Sea, which is the westernmost element of the Mediterranean Sea. The northern portion, an area of mountains, valleys, and plateaus between the Mediterranean Sea and the