The Sahara Desert is a hot, dry area covering most of North Africa. Its area of 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi) makes it about the same size of the United States.
90 percent of Algeria is covered by the Sahara Desert.
The name 'Sahara' is derived from ṣaḥārā, the plural of the Arabic word for "desert".
Eva Dickson was the first woman to cross the Sahara Desert by car in 1932. After meeting Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, the former spouse of Karen Blixen, in Kenya, she took a bet and drove by car from Nairobi to Stockholm, thus becoming the first woman to have crossed the Sahara by automobile.
The 1974 World Cup Rally was first rally to cross the Sahara Desert. It was won by the Australian team of Ken Tubman, Andre Welenski, and Jim Reddiex driving a Citroën.
The 1974 World Cup Rally was blighted by an error in the navigational notes which saw the majority of the field become lost in the Algerian Sahara. However, the journey through the desert planted the seed that would become the Dakar Rally in 1980.
Snow fell in the Sahara Desert for the first time in recorded history on February 18, 1979 in southern Algeria.
Michael Asher and Mariantonietta Peru made the first known crossing of the Sahara from west to east by non-mechanical means. Setting off in August 1986, with three camels, they passed through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and the Sudan, and finally arrived at the Nile at Abu Simbel in southern Egypt in May 1987, having made a journey of 271 days and 4500 miles by camel.
Reza Pakravan of Iran made the fastest crossing of the Sahara Desert by bicycle in 2011. He completed his journey from Algeria to Sudan in 13 days 5 hours 50 minutes and 14 seconds, on March 17, 2011, overcoming rain, sandstorms, arrest and numerous flies.
90 percent of Algeria is covered by the Sahara Desert.
The name 'Sahara' is derived from ṣaḥārā, the plural of the Arabic word for "desert".
Eva Dickson was the first woman to cross the Sahara Desert by car in 1932. After meeting Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, the former spouse of Karen Blixen, in Kenya, she took a bet and drove by car from Nairobi to Stockholm, thus becoming the first woman to have crossed the Sahara by automobile.
The 1974 World Cup Rally was first rally to cross the Sahara Desert. It was won by the Australian team of Ken Tubman, Andre Welenski, and Jim Reddiex driving a Citroën.
The 1974 World Cup Rally was blighted by an error in the navigational notes which saw the majority of the field become lost in the Algerian Sahara. However, the journey through the desert planted the seed that would become the Dakar Rally in 1980.
Snow fell in the Sahara Desert for the first time in recorded history on February 18, 1979 in southern Algeria.
Michael Asher and Mariantonietta Peru made the first known crossing of the Sahara from west to east by non-mechanical means. Setting off in August 1986, with three camels, they passed through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and the Sudan, and finally arrived at the Nile at Abu Simbel in southern Egypt in May 1987, having made a journey of 271 days and 4500 miles by camel.
Reza Pakravan of Iran made the fastest crossing of the Sahara Desert by bicycle in 2011. He completed his journey from Algeria to Sudan in 13 days 5 hours 50 minutes and 14 seconds, on March 17, 2011, overcoming rain, sandstorms, arrest and numerous flies.
Only a quarter of the Sahara desert is sandy, the desert also have salt flats, gravel plains, plateaus, and mountains that have snow.
About 200,000 km² (77,000 sq miles) of the Sahara are fertile oases, where dates, corn, and fruits are grown. The few fertile regions today are fed by underground rivers and underground basins.
Sand from the Sahara desert is blown by the wind all the way to the Amazon and fertilizes the rainforest by recharging its minerals.
A wobble of Earth's axis causes the Sahara to cycle between desert and grassland every 23,000 years. At present, we are in a dry period, but it is expected that the Sahara will become green again in 15,000 years.
Around 4 million people live in the Sahara Desert. Dominant groups of people are Sahrawis and Tuareg.
The largest city in the Sahara is Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital. The 2013 census gave the city's population as 958,399.
At 3415 m, the Emi Koussi in Chad is the Sahara's highest mountain.
The Sahara's lowest point lies in the Qattara Depression in Egypt, at about 130 metres below sea level.
About 200,000 km² (77,000 sq miles) of the Sahara are fertile oases, where dates, corn, and fruits are grown. The few fertile regions today are fed by underground rivers and underground basins.
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| An Idehan Ubari oasis lake, with native grasses & date palms. By I, Luca Galuzzi |
Sand from the Sahara desert is blown by the wind all the way to the Amazon and fertilizes the rainforest by recharging its minerals.
A wobble of Earth's axis causes the Sahara to cycle between desert and grassland every 23,000 years. At present, we are in a dry period, but it is expected that the Sahara will become green again in 15,000 years.
Around 4 million people live in the Sahara Desert. Dominant groups of people are Sahrawis and Tuareg.
The largest city in the Sahara is Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital. The 2013 census gave the city's population as 958,399.
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| The Grand Mosque in Nouakchott |
At 3415 m, the Emi Koussi in Chad is the Sahara's highest mountain.
The Sahara's lowest point lies in the Qattara Depression in Egypt, at about 130 metres below sea level.
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