The Sahara DesertBy, Arie’L Banks

Sahara• Some of the sand

dunes can reach 180 meters (590 ft) in height.

• The name (Sahara) comes from the Arabic word for desert.

• The Sahara is the largest desert on the African continent.

• The Sahara's boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea on the east, and the Sudan and the valley of the Niger River on the south.

Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert, the world's largest hot desert and second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over 9,400,000 square kilometers, it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as China or the United States.

Geography

Landform• The desert landforms of

the Sahara are shaped by wind or by occasional rains and include sand dunes and dune fields or sand seas, stone plateau, gravel plains, dry valleys, and salt flats.

• Most of the rivers and streams in the Sahara are seasonal or intermittent.

Climate• Sahara has undergone

enormous variation between wet and dry over the last few hundred thousand years.

• During the last glacial period, the Sahara was even bigger than it is today, extending south beyond its current boundaries.

Sahara’s Plants and Animals!

About 200,000 square kilometers of Sahara is fertile, owing to the fact that the land in these areas is constantly fed by underground rivers, reservoirs or artisan.

• It is also known as the Ariel Gazelle. • They are known to

reach running speeds of about 49 miles per hour.Dorcas

Gazelle It is the most common species of gazelle and stands up to 65 cm tall and weighs around 25 kg.

• Eragrostis; Among the Sahara desert plants, the eragrostis is a kind of grass that is prevalent in the region. This grass spreads rapidly, and is used by the inhabitants of the desert. Eragrostis is also popularly known as 'lovegrass'.

• Common Fig; A deciduous tree that reaches a height of up to 6 m, is also included in the list of the plants that survive in the Sahara Desert. Although it is surprising to evident the growth of this moist, edible fruit-bearing tree in the desert, it is true that figs have been a staple of the people's diet.

• Date palm; among the most important exports of Sahara desert plants. It also serves as an important source of food for the locals. Most alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks include the date palm as one of the ingredients. It is also used in the making of certain sweets and stock feed native to the region. The leaves of this plant are also cooked as vegetables by the natives. Even the seeds of the plant are utilized for making flour or bread.

• Magaria fruits are of a muted brown color and roughly resemble cherries. Flour extracted from dried magaria fruits are typically used by the people of the Sahara desert to make cakes. The branches of the trees are used for building fences around fields, for protection against animals.

• Olive Trees; Very few people are aware of the fact that olive trees are also found in areas bordering the Nile river. It was in Africa where the olive trees were first cultivated and later their cultivation spread to other countries. Olive trees are an important plant in the Sahara desert's ecosystem. These trees also serve as a lucrative business for the natives.

Sahara Desert