Tassili n'Ajjer
Algeria ·
Description
Tassili n Ajjer is an open-air museum where rock tells humanity story. Over 15,000 paintings and engravings document the Sahara transformation from fertile savanna to desert. Eroded rock formations create a lunar landscape of overwhelming beauty, where every corner hides testimonies of lost civilizations.
Image Gallery
Why It's a World Heritage Site
This Mixed site combines exceptional natural and cultural value. The eroded sandstone geological formations are unique, while the rock art constitutes one of the world most important prehistoric records, documenting climate change and human life from 6000 BC to the early centuries of our era.
UNESCO Criteria
Frequently Asked Questions
It combines unique geological formations with over 15,000 rock paintings documenting the climatic and human evolution of the Sahara over millennia.
It was inscribed in 1982 as one of the first Mixed (natural and cultural) World Heritage sites.
It is located in southeastern Algeria, in the heart of the Sahara, near the border with Libya and Niger.
It is a Mixed site, recognized for both its natural value (geological formations) and cultural value (prehistoric rock art).
They depict fauna now extinct in the Sahara (giraffes, elephants, hippos) and the life of peoples who inhabited the region when it was fertile.