Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara (<a href="/en/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English" class="wl">/səˈhɑːrə/</a>, <a href="/en/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English" class="wl">/səˈhærə/</a>) is a <a href="/en/Desert" title="Desert" class="wl">desert</a> on the <a href="/en/Africa" title="Africa" class="wl">African continent</a>. With an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi), it is the largest hot desert in the world and the <a href="/en/List_of_deserts_by_area" title="List of deserts by area" class="wl">third-largest desert</a> overall, smaller only than the deserts of <a href="/en/Antarctica" title="Antarctica" class="wl">Antarctica</a> and the northern <a href="/en/Arctic" title="Arctic" class="wl">Arctic</a>.<a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a><a href="#cite_note-geology.com-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a><a href="#cite_note-Size_and_Population_of_Sahara-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;">[3]</a>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Desert on the African continent</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1033289096" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}</style>


<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn">Quick facts: Sahara, Length, Width, Area, Naming... ▼</header> <table class="infobox vcard mobile-collapse-element" style="line-height: 1.5em;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above fn org notheme" style="background-color: #e7dcc3;">Sahara</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><a href="/en/File:Sahara_real_color.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Sahara_real_color.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Sahara_real_color.jpg/272px-Sahara_real_color.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="3700" data-file-height="2000" data-file-type="bitmap" height="147" width="272" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Sahara_real_color.jpg/408px-Sahara_real_color.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Sahara_real_color.jpg/544px-Sahara_real_color.jpg 2x" alt="Sahara_real_color.jpg"></a><div class="infobox-caption">The Sahara taken by <a href="/en/Apollo_17" title="Apollo 17" class="wl">Apollo 17</a> astronauts, 1972</div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><a href="/en/File:Sahara.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Sahara.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Sahara.svg/272px-Sahara.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="272" width="272" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Sahara.svg/408px-Sahara.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Sahara.svg/544px-Sahara.svg.png 2x" alt="Sahara.svg"></a><div class="infobox-caption">Geographical map of the Sahara</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Length</th><td class="infobox-data">4,800&nbsp;km (3,000&nbsp;mi)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Width</th><td class="infobox-data">1,800&nbsp;km (1,100&nbsp;mi)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Area</th><td class="infobox-data">9,200,000&nbsp;km2 (3,600,000&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi)</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #e7dcc3;">Naming</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Native name</th><td class="infobox-data nickname"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><a href="/en/Arabic_language" title="Arabic language" class="mw-redirect wl">Arabic</a>: الصحراء الكبرى</li><li>aṣ-ṣaḥrā' al-kubrá</li><li>"The greatest desert"</li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #e7dcc3;">Geography</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Countries</th><td class="infobox-data label"><div class="collapsible-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align: left;">
<div style="line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: bold;"><div>List</div></div>
<ul class="mw-collapsible-content" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin-left: 0;"><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Algeria.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Flag_of_Algeria.svg/23px-Flag_of_Algeria.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Flag_of_Algeria.svg/35px-Flag_of_Algeria.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Flag_of_Algeria.svg/45px-Flag_of_Algeria.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Algeria" title="Algeria" class="wl">Algeria</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Chad.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Flag_of_Chad.svg/23px-Flag_of_Chad.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Flag_of_Chad.svg/35px-Flag_of_Chad.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Flag_of_Chad.svg/45px-Flag_of_Chad.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Chad" title="Chad" class="wl">Chad</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Egypt.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Flag_of_Egypt.svg/23px-Flag_of_Egypt.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Flag_of_Egypt.svg/35px-Flag_of_Egypt.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Flag_of_Egypt.svg/45px-Flag_of_Egypt.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Egypt" title="Egypt" class="wl">Egypt</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Libya.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Flag_of_Libya.svg/23px-Flag_of_Libya.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="960" data-file-height="480" data-file-type="drawing" height="12" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Flag_of_Libya.svg/35px-Flag_of_Libya.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Flag_of_Libya.svg/46px-Flag_of_Libya.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Libya" title="Libya" class="wl">Libya</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Mali.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Flag_of_Mali.svg/23px-Flag_of_Mali.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Flag_of_Mali.svg/35px-Flag_of_Mali.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Flag_of_Mali.svg/45px-Flag_of_Mali.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Mali" title="Mali" class="wl">Mali</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Mauritania.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Flag_of_Mauritania.svg/23px-Flag_of_Mauritania.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Flag_of_Mauritania.svg/35px-Flag_of_Mauritania.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Flag_of_Mauritania.svg/45px-Flag_of_Mauritania.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Mauritania" title="Mauritania" class="wl">Mauritania</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Morocco.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Flag_of_Morocco.svg/23px-Flag_of_Morocco.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Flag_of_Morocco.svg/35px-Flag_of_Morocco.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Flag_of_Morocco.svg/45px-Flag_of_Morocco.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Morocco" title="Morocco" class="wl">Morocco</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Niger.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Flag_of_Niger.svg/18px-Flag_of_Niger.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="700" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="18" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Flag_of_Niger.svg/27px-Flag_of_Niger.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Flag_of_Niger.svg/35px-Flag_of_Niger.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Niger" title="Niger" class="wl">Niger</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Sudan.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Flag_of_Sudan.svg/23px-Flag_of_Sudan.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="12" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Flag_of_Sudan.svg/35px-Flag_of_Sudan.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Flag_of_Sudan.svg/46px-Flag_of_Sudan.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Sudan" title="Sudan" class="wl">Sudan</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Tunisia.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Flag_of_Tunisia.svg/23px-Flag_of_Tunisia.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Flag_of_Tunisia.svg/35px-Flag_of_Tunisia.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Flag_of_Tunisia.svg/45px-Flag_of_Tunisia.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Tunisia" title="Tunisia" class="wl">Tunisia</a></li><li style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0"><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Flag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="300" data-file-type="drawing" height="12" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Flag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic.svg/35px-Flag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Flag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic.svg/46px-Flag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic.svg.png 2x">&nbsp;<a href="/en/Western_Sahara" title="Western Sahara" class="wl">Western Sahara</a> (<a href="/en/List_of_territorial_disputes" title="List of territorial disputes" class="wl">disputed</a>)</li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Geographic_coordinate_system" title="Geographic coordinate system" class="wl">Coordinates</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1073938472" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Sahara&amp;params=23_N_13_E_type:landmark_source:googlemaps_scale:30000000_dim:2400km" class="external text" target="_blank">23°N 13°E﻿ / 23; 13</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'>Close ▲</footer></div>

The name "Sahara" is derived from the Arabic word for "desert" in the feminine irregular form, the singular ṣaḥra' (صحراء <a href="/en/Help:IPA/Arabic" title="Help:IPA/Arabic" class="wl">/ˈsˤaħra/</a>), plural ṣaḥārā (صَحَارَى <a href="/en/Help:IPA/Arabic" title="Help:IPA/Arabic" class="wl">/ˈsˤaħaːraː/</a>),<a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;">[4]</a><a href="#cite_note-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;">[5]</a><a href="#cite_note-6" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 6;">[6]</a><a href="#cite_note-7" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 7;">[7]</a> ṣaḥār (صَحَار), ṣaḥrāwāt (صَحْرَاوَات), ṣaḥāriy (صَحَارِي).

The desert comprises much of <a href="/en/North_Africa" title="North Africa" class="wl">North Africa</a>, excluding the fertile region on the <a href="/en/Mediterranean_Sea" title="Mediterranean Sea" class="wl">Mediterranean Sea</a> coast, the <a href="/en/Atlas_Mountains" title="Atlas Mountains" class="wl">Atlas Mountains</a> of the <a href="/en/Maghreb" title="Maghreb" class="wl">Maghreb</a>, and the <a href="/en/Nile" title="Nile" class="wl">Nile Valley</a> in <a href="/en/Egypt" title="Egypt" class="wl">Egypt</a> and the <a href="/en/Sudan" title="Sudan" class="wl">Sudan</a>. It stretches from the <a href="/en/Red_Sea" title="Red Sea" class="wl">Red Sea</a> in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the <a href="/en/Atlantic_Ocean" title="Atlantic Ocean" class="wl">Atlantic Ocean</a> in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south it is bounded by the <a href="/en/Sahel" title="Sahel" class="wl">Sahel</a>, a belt of <a href="/en/Tropical_and_subtropical_grasslands,_savannas,_and_shrublands" title="Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands" class="wl">semi-arid tropical savanna</a> around the <a href="/en/Niger_River" title="Niger River" class="wl">Niger River</a> valley and the <a href="/en/Sudan_(region)" title="Sudan (region)" class="wl">Sudan region</a> of <a href="/en/Sub-Saharan_Africa" title="Sub-Saharan Africa" class="wl">sub-Saharan Africa</a>. The Sahara can be divided into several regions, including the western Sahara, the central <a href="/en/Ahaggar_Mountains" title="Ahaggar Mountains" class="mw-redirect wl">Ahaggar Mountains</a>, the <a href="/en/Tibesti_Mountains" title="Tibesti Mountains" class="wl">Tibesti Mountains</a>, the <a href="/en/Aïr_Mountains" title="Aïr Mountains" class="wl">Aïr Mountains</a>, the <a href="/en/Ténéré" title="Ténéré" class="wl">Ténéré</a> desert, and the <a href="/en/Libyan_Desert" title="Libyan Desert" class="wl">Libyan Desert</a>.

For several hundred thousand years, the Sahara has alternated between desert and savanna grassland in a 20,000-year cycle<a href="#cite_note-8" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 8;">[8]</a> caused by the <a href="/en/Precession" title="Precession" class="wl">precession</a> of Earth's <a href="/en/Axial_tilt#Earth" title="Axial tilt" class="wl">axis</a> as it rotates around the Sun, which changes the location of the <a href="/en/North_African_climate_cycles" title="North African climate cycles" class="wl">North African monsoon</a>.

The Sahara is a desert on the African continent. With an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic. The name "Sahara" is derived from the Arabic word for "desert" in the feminine irregular form, the singular ṣaḥra' , plural ṣaḥārā , ṣaḥār , ṣaḥrāwāt , ṣaḥāriy . 