Northern Africa

Northern Africa is the northern part of the African continent, bordered to the north by the Mediterranean sea and to the south by the Sahara desert. According to the UN definition it consists of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara. Northern Africa includes the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya). The region is mostly arid or desertic. Except for the Atlas mountains in the west and the Ahaggar and Tibesti mountains in the south, the region is mostly flat. Northern Africa is populated mainly by Berber, Arab and Egyptian people and the predominant religion is Islam. One of the most significant civilisations of the ancient times, the Egyptian civilisation, developed around the Nile river valley starting in the fourth millenium BC.