HODNA, CHOTT EL-

shallow saline lake in north-central Algeria. It is separated from the Tell Atlas to the north by the Hodna Mountains. The lake occupies the bottom of an arid depression (elevation of 1,280 feet ) in the Hodna Plain and serves as an interior drainage basin. Owing to the extreme rate of evaporation, Chott el-Hodna is of varying size (about 50 miles long and 10 miles wide) and is often dry. The Hodna depression forms a break in the Saharan Atlas, dividing the Ouled Nal Mountains (southwest) from the Aurs Massif (east). Remains of agricultural and irrigation works evidence Roman and premedieval settlement in the vicinity of the lake. There are, however, only two modern communities nearby, Bou Sada to the southwest and M'Sila to the north. Despite the possibility of artesian water supply, the region remains agriculturally undeveloped.