The Atlantika Mountains are an extension of the Cameroon line

Cameroon line

The Cameroon line is a chain of volcanoes.It includes islands in the Gulf of Guinea and mountains that extend along the border region of eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon, from Mount Cameroon on the Gulf of Guinea north and east towards Lake Chad....

 of volcanic mountains, spanning the border between Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 and Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

. They lie to the southeast of Yola

Yola, Nigeria

Yola is the capital city and administrative center of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Located on the Benue River, it has a population of 88,500 . Established in 1841, Yola was the capital of a Fulani state until it was taken by the British in 1901. Daytime temperatures can easily exceed during the dry...

, the capital of Adamawa State

Adamawa State

Adamawa is a state in northeastern Nigeria, with its capital at Yola. It was formed in 1991 from part of Gongola State with four administrative divisions namely: Adamawa, Ganye, Mubi and Numan. It is one of the thirty-six States which constitute the Federal Republic of Nigeria.-Geography:Adamawa...

 in Nigeria, and southwest of the Mandara mountains

Mandara Mountains

The Mandara Mountains are a volcanic range extending about 200km along the northern part of the Cameroon-Nigeria border, from the Benue River in the south to the north-west of Maroua in the north . The highest elevation is 1,494 m , the summit of Mount Oupay .The region is densely populated,...

. In Cameroon, they are part of the North Region.
They are north of the Adamawa Plateau

Adamawa Plateau

The Adamawa Plateau is a plateau region in west-central Africa stretching from south-eastern Nigeria through north-central Cameroon to the Central African Republic. The plateau was named after Fulani Muslim leader Modibo Adama. The part of the plateau that lies in Nigeria is more popularly known...

 and west of the Faro National Park

Faro National Park

Faro National Park is a national park in Cameroon's North Province. It covers an area of and is close to the Nigerian border, surrounded on the eastern side by several hunting reserves. It is home to cheetahs, black rhinoceros, elephants, and is known for its colonies of hippopotamuses....

 in Cameroon.
The massif rises to about 1300 metres (4,265.1 ft) above the Faro River, a tributary of the Benue River

Benue River

The Benue River is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately 1,400 km long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months...

.
The range includes a belt of volcanoes, most of which are inactive.

The line of mountains of which the Atlantika range is a part were taken as a natural boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon by the colonial powers.
The Koma people took refuge in the mountains in the last half of the 19th century, apparently to avoid paying taxes to the colonial government. They remained unnoticed until 1980, when they were found by an Indian schoolteacher who was working for the government.