Tibesti Mountains

Mountain range in NC Africa, largely in NW Chad, partly in Libya and Sudan; area 100 000 km²/38 600 sq mi, length 480 km/300 mi; highest mountain group in Sahara; highest peak, Emi Koussi (3415 m/11 204 ft); spectacular rock formations created by wind erosion.

The Tibesti Mountains are a group of dormant volcanoes forming a mountain range in the central Sahara desert in the Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region of northern Chad.

The mountains are the largest and highest range in the Sahara. Other summits include Kegueur Terbi (3376 m), Tarso Taro (3325 m), the active volcano Pic Tousside (3265 m) and Soborom (3100 m).

The range has a substantially wetter climate than the arid surrounding desert;

The area has long been home to the Toubou people, there been trading relations between them and Carthage as far back as the 500s BC.

The mountains are known for their cave paintings, mostly dating from the 5th to the 3rd millennium BC, and for the geysers and hot springs around Soboroum.