Sahara

The Sahara is the world's second largest desert (second to Antarctica), over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), located in northern Africa and is 2.5 million years old. The entire land area of the United States of America would fit inside it. Its name, Sahara, is an English pronunciation of the word for desert in Arabic (صحراء {{Audio|ar-Sahara.ogg|arabic pronunciation}}).

Overview

The boundaries of the Sahara are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Red Sea and Egypt on the east, and the Sudan and the valley of the River Niger on the south. Sahara is divided into western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti massif, the Aïr Mountains (a region of desert mountains and high plateaus), Tenere desert and the Libyan desert (the most arid region). The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi (3415 m) in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad.

Related Topics:
Atlantic Ocean - Atlas Mountains - Mediterranean Sea - Red Sea - Egypt - Sudan - River Niger - Ahaggar Mountains - Tibesti massif - Aïr Mountains - Tenere - Libyan desert - Emi Koussi - Chad

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The Sahara divides the continent into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. The southern border of the Sahara is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies the lusher Sudan.

Related Topics:
Continent - North - Sub-Saharan Africa - Savanna - Sahel - Sudan

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Humans have lived on the edge of the desert for almost 500,000 years. During the last ice age, the Sahara was a much wetter place, much like East Africa, than it is today. Over 30,000 petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles survive in total with half found in the Tassili n'Ajjer in southeast Algeria. Fossils of dinosaurs have also been found here. The modern Sahara, though, is generally devoid of vegetation, except in the Nile Valley and at a few oases and in some scattered mountains and has been this way since about 3000 BC.

Related Topics:
Ice age - East Africa - Petroglyph - Crocodile - Tassili n'Ajjer - Algeria - Fossil - Dinosaur - Nile - Oases - 3000 BC

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2.5 million people live in the Sahara, most of these in Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. Dominant groups of people are the Tuareg-Berber, the Sahrawis, Moors, and different black African ethnicities including the Tubu, the Nubians, the Zaghawas and the Kanuri. The largest city is Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital. Other important cities are Tamanrasset, Algeria; Timbuktu, Mali; Agadez, Niger; Ghat, Libya; and Faya, Chad.

Related Topics:
Mauritania - Morocco - Algeria - Tuareg - Berber - Sahrawis - Moors - Tubu - Nubians - Zaghawa - Kanuri - Nouakchott - Tamanrasset - Timbuktu - Mali - Agadez - Niger - Ghat - Libya - Faya - Chad

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