Fascinating Facts About The Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert

• The Sahara Desert covers a vast area of 8.54 million sq.km, spanning across 11 countries in North Africa, including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.
• The desert is characterized by extremely high temperatures, scarce vegetation, and low rainfall.

Geography

• The Sahara Desert is not just composed of sand, but also features gravel plains and elevated plateaus with bare rocky surfaces that can be over 2500m high in some areas.

Climate Change

• The Sahara Desert was once a lush green plain, with rivers and a diverse array of wildlife, including crocodiles, elephants, lions, giraffes, and ostriches.
• A change in climate has transformed the region into a hot and dry environment.

Climate

• The Sahara Desert has a scorching hot and dry climate, with short rainy seasons and cloudless skies.
• Temperatures can soar up to 50°C during the day and drop to near zero degrees at night.

Flora and Fauna

• Vegetation in the Sahara Desert is limited, with cactus, date palms, and acacia trees being some of the few species that can survive.
• The desert is home to a range of animal species, including camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, and snakes.
• Fossil evidence has revealed that fish once inhabited the area, suggesting a drastically different environment in the past.

Human Settlement

• Despite the harsh climate, the Sahara Desert has been inhabited by various groups of people, including the Bedouins and Tuaregs.
• These nomadic tribes rear livestock such as goats, sheep, camels, and horses, which provide them with essential resources like milk, hides, and hair.
• Oasis settlements, like those found in the Sahara and the Nile Valley, support a more settled population, with crops like dates, rice, wheat, barley, and beans being grown.
• The discovery of oil and other minerals like iron, phosphorus, manganese, and uranium is transforming the Sahara Desert and its cultural landscape.