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