Lake · Morocco
Aguelmame Sidi Ali
Aguelmame Sidi Ali is a small mountain lake high in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco, about 2 080 metres above the sea. It lies in a natural hollow in dark volcanic rock called basalt.
Picture credit: Hadraj (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Ayoub benkarroum (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ayoub benkarroum (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Aguelmame Sidi Ali?
Countries on its shores: Morocco.
Largest lake of: Morocco.
Middle of the lake: 33.07° N, 5.00° W
The story behind it
The lake formed long ago at a place where two long cracks in the Earth's crust, called faults, cross each other. It has two basins, which are separated by a ridge of rock that sticks out of the water. The lake is small, but in places it is 36 metres deep. Its name comes from a marabout, a holy man, on its eastern shore. In summer, shepherds of the Beni M'guild people bring their flocks of sheep and goats to the pastures around the lake. In winter, water birds such as ruddy shelducks travel here from far away to rest. Long ago a special kind of trout lived in the lake, but it died out after people put carp into the water in 1934. Today pike and zander swim here too. Since 2008 the lake has been part of Khenifra National Park. Aguelmame Sidi Ali is the largest natural lake in Morocco.
Find it on the globe
Aguelmame Sidi Ali is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How big is Aguelmame Sidi Ali?
Aguelmame Sidi Ali covers about 5 km², although some sources give a little less, about 3.4 km². It is small, but in places the water is 36 metres deep.
How did the lake form?
The lake lies in a hollow in volcanic rock, at a place where two faults – long cracks in the Earth's crust – cross. Water from an area of about 15.6 km² around it collects in this hollow.
Who visits the lake?
In summer, shepherds bring their sheep and goats to the pastures around the lake. In winter, migrating water birds such as ruddy shelducks come to rest on the water.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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