Sahara Desert Hottest Desert in the World

The Sahara's boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Red Sea on the east, and the Sudan (region) and the valley of the Niger River on the south. The Sahara is divided into western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Air Mountains (a region of desert mountains and high plateaus), Ténéré desert and the Libyan desert (the most arid region). The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi (3,415 m/11,204 ft) in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad. The Sahara is the largest desert on the African continent. The southern border of the Sahara is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies Southern Sudan and the Congo River Basin. Most of the Sahara consists of rocky hamada; ergs (large areas covered with sand dunes) form only a minor part.

 1. The Sahara, which is known in Arabic as aṣ-ṣaḥra´ al-kubra and means “The Great Desert”, is the largest hot desert in the world.

2. With a total area of more than 9,400,000 km², it is almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe.

 3. Over-all, when hot and cold deserts are combined, Sahara is the 2nd largest desert on Earth. It is next only to Antarctica which is classified as desert due to very low precipitation rates.

4. Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus, where you’ll find drawings of animals on the cave’s wall, is declared a UNESCO World

 5. The countries within the Sahara Desert are Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

6. Emi Koussi is the highest peak in the Sahara. It is 3,415 m tall and is located in the Tibesti Mountains in the northern part of Chad.

 7. The Berbers, together with the Tuaregs, are the dominant ethnic groups in the Sahara.

8. Richat Structure is an unusual landform located in Mauritania. This prominent circular feature in the Sahara has attracted the attention of many due to its conspicuous bull’s eye form. This unique landform has a diameter of about 50 km.

 9. Sahara has one of the world’s harshest climates. The prevailing north-easterly wind often causes the sand to form dust devils and sand storms.

10. Sahara is so dry that half of it receives less than 20 mm of rain per year while the reminder has up to 10 cm per year.

11. Rainfall in the Sahara is extremely rare but when it does it is usually torrential when it occurs after long dry periods.

12. Its quite surprising but there is about 500 species of plants that grow in the Sahara Desert.