Sahara desert water resources in brief. The Sahara is the largest desert on the planet. Fenech - the faithful companion of the Little Prince from the famous fairy tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Federal Agency for Education

Tomsk State University

Abstract on the discipline "Biogeography"

Flora and fauna of the Sahara

Introduction

The Greatest Desert in the World

Modern desert flora

Modern desert fauna

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The Sahara occupies a large part of the African continent. On the western, northern and eastern outskirts it is bounded by boundaries in the form of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and Red Seas, in the south it merges with the tropics. Most of the greatest desert is located at an altitude of 200-500 meters above sea level, where there are almost no sources of water and well-developed vegetation.

Sahara means "desert" in Arabic. It stretches from west to east for five thousand and from north to south for one and a half thousand kilometers. Its area is about nine square kilometers.

The purpose of this essay is to consider the flora and fauna of the Sahara.

The purpose of the abstract is:

· Description of modern desert flora;

· Description of modern desert fauna;

Identification of the characteristics of organisms living in the Sahara.

This work is written on 17 pages, contains a table.

1. The Greatest Desert in the World

The area of the Sahara itself is about 9 million km 2, which is almost equal to the continental part of the United States. Although it is commonly believed that this desert is endless dunes, in fact, only one seventh of the desert is sandy, including ergs - sandy seas. The Great Sand Sea of Libya and Egypt, covering an area equal to that of France, is the largest in the world, with dunes 100 m or more high. Most of the Sahara, that which is not covered with sand, is a rocky desert (reg) with a gravel surface of polished black and purple stones, or a gamada covered with flat limestones.

Topographically, this desert is a region of plateaus and plains, intersected by highlands.

The Nile is the only river that flows through the Sahara; numerous dry riverbeds in other watersheds originate in mountain ranges within or along the edges of the desert and terminate in inland basins, some of them below sea level.

Since the Sahara is located in a subtropical high pressure zone, it generally receives less than 125 mm of precipitation per year. As in all deserts, these precipitations fall very unevenly. Daytime temperatures in summer usually exceed 40C, and often 50C.

In the northern third of the Sahara, precipitation falls mainly from autumn to spring. Bushes grow here and herds of sheep and goats graze, belonging to the Arabs, who two generations ago led a nomadic lifestyle, and now have become mostly sedentary. The central part of the Sahara is the driest zone, there is very little moisture here. Although these parts have the least vegetation, Muslim nomads graze herds of sheep and goats here. In the southern third of the Sahara, called the Sahel, prolonged droughts in recent years have led to a significant increase in the area of the desert.

In the Sahara, there are large mountains, and endless rocky plains, and incredible sand dunes that serve as a refuge for amazing animals. Here and there oases are scattered; in some places with clean and fresh water, in others with bitter or even poisonous. The scorching heat is replaced by night cold. Strong winds resulting from changes in temperature raise sand and dust, exhausting all living things. Sometimes, when the air is completely still and there is absolute silence, which is not disturbed by the singing of birds or the rustle of insects, sparkling stars are visible in the night sky. The bright sun can make a terrifying desert even beautiful, if you manage to forget that life in it is a constant fierce struggle for water.

The northern boundary of the Sahara is usually considered the Atlas mountain range. Its southern slopes are already attributed to the Sahara. The northern border of the Sahara is formed by several depressions, which are called the "Sahara fault". Some animals and plants never cross this ecological barrier. For example, a noisy viper that occurs south of the "rift" never appears north of it, not even a raven flies over it. The southern border is difficult to determine.

There are three main types of deserts in the Sahara: ergs, regs and hamads. Ergs are large sandy massifs, such as the Libyan Desert or the Great Western Erg. Regs are almost dead plains covered with a layer of coarse sand, rubble or pebbles. Hamads are huge flat spaces, the surface of which is formed by rocks.

The climate of the Sahara has been a desert climate for centuries. The few rivers of the Sahara, with the exception of the Nile, originate in the Atlas Mountains and flow until all their water disappears into the desert sands. There are oases in the Sahara - places where there are water sources or wells. In oases, water is strictly limited, and its use is usually controlled. The original plants of the oases are tamarisk, oleanders, and various shrubs. Groves of date palms, fruit trees, and wheat grow on fertile plots. The oases are distributed along four arcs: Saura, Gurara, Tuat and Tidikelt. This chain of oases, known as the "Palm Road", is 1200 km long. It stretches from the Moroccan border at Figig to In Salah in Tidikelt.

Like the Palm Road, the region of oases stretched along the northern border of the Sahara.

Among the largest oases of the Sahara, in addition to those mentioned, located from west to east, there are oases on the plateau of Mauritania, Dra and Tafilalet Djalo, Kufra (Libya), Kawar (Niger), Borku, Tibesti (Chad) and the oases of Egypt - Farafra, Dakhla, Kharga, Siwa.

The animals and plants of the Sahara are divided into those that exist only near water sources, and those that can live in a waterless desert. No part of the Sahara is completely devoid of life. Even where there is no rain for several years in a row and where we do not find vegetation, there are at least bacteria and fungi.

The uneven distribution of precipitation and different temperature regimes that characterize the northern and southern territories of the Sahara cause very significant differences in their floras. The Central Sahara is a border region between two large floristic kingdoms - the Paleotropical and the Holarctic. In the Northern Sahara, floristic elements of the Holarctic kingdom are found (first of all, plant species common in the Mediterranean region): representatives of the genera astragalus, mignonette, plantain, saltwort. The floristic elements of the Paleotropical kingdom, characteristic of the Southern Sahara, are the species of the genera indigo, hibiscus, cleome, acacia, field grass and syt, common here. In the Sahara, about 25% of endemic plant species. The flora of the Sahara is ten times poorer in species than the flora of Southern Europe. But still, 450 species of flowering and 75 species of other plants were found in the Central Sahara.

Plants in the desert struggle to obtain the necessary amount of moisture to continue their existence. Precipitation in the desert in the form of heavy rains is rare. Part of the water accumulates in the creeks and penetrates deep into the sand and silt. Quite tall perennial shrubs and trees can grow in such places. Along the dried up riverbeds, which are briefly filled with water after rains, thickets of tamarisk and oleander are visible. In places where there are constant sources of water, there are many large acacia trees; in the southern regions of the Sahara, you can also see the doom palm, although these are not typical desert plants. Perennial plants that create the green dress of the Sahara have to retain moisture in their tissues. Their main feature is a powerful root system, stretching for several meters. To reduce evaporation, desert plants have created various "devices", for example, their leaves are reduced to thorns, pubescent or covered with a kind of wax coating. Some species settle on the ground so that the winds do not dry them out, others collect water either in bulbs or in roots.

An unusual plant grows in the hamads of the Southern Atlas - anabasia, which is sometimes called sugar cauliflower. It consists of gray-green pads in the form of stars, similar to moss, but hard as stone.

Countless gray-green stars act as leaves. Sand gets into the gaps between the leaves, and sometimes the plant absorbs it. These grains of sand make the plants hard and stable. "Pillows" of anabasia are scattered everywhere, as far as the eye can see.

The animals of the Sahara face the same problem as the plants: how to get water and how to save it. From this point of view, ergs are better for animals than regs and hamads, mainly because their soil is soft and animals can hide in the sand from the heat of the day. Animals such as the fox, the fox, or the jerboa usually live in ergs, where they can easily dig a hole.

Only a relatively small number of desert animals are able to do without water for a long time. The skink lizard lives in deserted and dry places. This nimble, sand-burrowing animal up to 20 cm long was known in Europe already in the Middle Ages. Its meat was considered medicinal. The inhabitants of the oases catch the skink, as they consider it a delicacy. The lizard is dried, crushed in a mortar, the resulting powder is mixed with date jam, leather bags are filled with this mass and sold to caravans.

Some animals cannot exist at all in waterless lands. This applies mainly to small animals that find it difficult to overcome waterless distances.

In the Sahara, you can find toads that spend only a small part of their lives in the water. When a puddle forms for a short time after a rainstorm, the water simply teems with toads. The growth period of tadpoles is shorter here than in other places, so their tail falls off, and they have time to become toads before the puddle dries up. The main task of these animals is to hold out until the next rain. To do this, toads burrow into the ground or cracks between stones and thus escape from the scorching sun. In their burrows they sleep, breathe slowly and lose a large amount of fluid, sometimes up to 60%. As soon as they fall into the water, they immediately come to life. Reptiles are best adapted to the harsh life in the desert: they have dry skin covered with horny scales, they retain fluid because they do not sweat. Reptiles feed not only on insects, but also on animals whose tissues contain a significant amount of water. The main enemies of reptiles are carnivores, primarily birds of prey.

Birds and some large mammals solve the problems that the desert confronts them with the help of fast movement. In the Sahara, two types of gazelles, the true inhabitants of the desert, can be found: the dorcas gazelle and the sand gazelle. In the southern regions of the Sahara, a lady gazelle is sometimes found. Gazelles cannot live in a bare desert permanently. Although they can go without water for quite a long time, they need food, which most often grows around dry riverbeds, temporary puddles, or in places where there is enough underground moisture. The long legs and slender bodies of these animals allow them to quickly move through the desert in search of food and water.

Some birds, such as sandgrouse, found in all African deserts and semi-deserts, fly very far for water. When they drink, they stand in the water and wet their lower feathers. There are two types of larks that can live farthest from water sources in the desert: Saharan and desert larks. The Saharan lark (its length is 23 centimeters) on its high legs can run very quickly on the sand. It feeds mainly on beetle larvae, which it takes out of the sand with a long beak from a depth of up to 5 centimeters. It is inexplicable how he determines where a larva is hidden in the sand: his beak almost never dives into the sand to no avail. The desert lark is somewhat smaller than the Saharan, and the color of its plumage merges with the color of the land on which it lives. In larks living in the sand, it is sand-colored; those who live on dark rocks have a dark one. A bright lark never sits on dark ground, and vice versa. The desert lark is not afraid of people.

Large animals, due to their size, cannot dig a hole for themselves to hide from the sun. Such animals are forced to evaporate moisture, cooling themselves during the day, and at night, maintaining their temperature, lose energy. The most amazing of the animals living in the Sahara is the addax antelope. She lives in large sandy expanses, sometimes in the very heart of ergs. These antelopes, the size of a small donkey, with coiled horns, walk in small groups or singly, uniting in numerous herds only during the mating season. They drink very rarely, so they can live in absolutely dry places. Addaxes have disproportionately large hooves, well adapted for moving on loose sands.

There are no more wild camels in the Sahara, they are all tamed and serve people as a means of transportation or as a draft animal.

On the southern slopes of the Atlas and in the mountains of Tibesti, Ahaggar and Aira, a maned ram comes across. This shy mountain animal is very difficult to see. During the day, it hides from the scorching sun in caves or gorges, and goes out to graze at night.

2. Modern desert flora

The climate of the Saharan region is characterized by high air temperatures, often with sharp and large fluctuations, and a small amount of precipitation, which falls extremely unevenly. In the areas of genuine desert that are in the same region, rainfall, if any, is insufficient to support life. The combination of high temperatures and poor rainfall creates an environment of very low air humidity and high evapotranspiration, and in some areas these factors can also lead to an increase in the salt content of the topsoil. As a result of these contrasting external conditions, the vegetation becomes sparse and monotonous. In such an environment, ephemera xerophytes feel especially good, and the prevalence of halophytes is also noted.

The vegetation of the Sahara has 1200 species, including 104 families of angiosperms and 10 families of spore plants.

Table 1

Species diversity of Sahara plants

Family
			endemic species
Compositae

cruciferous


clove

An amazing feature of the flora is the appearance of a number of completely isolated monotypic genera with a wide and narrow distribution. The presence of such numerous monotypic genera is considered evidence of their origin in the distant Tertiary period with the probable disappearance of connecting forms.

3. Modern desert fauna

Since the outlines and boundaries of the Sahara are rather vague, the number of species of small mammals that live in this desert can only be indicated approximately. If we talk about eight countries or localities, then 6 orders, 24 families and 83 species are registered in them. Judging by the number of species, rodents (40 species) master the Sahara especially successfully, and among rodents, the family Cricetidae (22 species) gives the largest number of species. All gerbils are characterized by brown or sandy hair on the back, a whitish color of the abdomen, long tails, usually with a brush at the end, large eyes and swollen auditory drums. Although representatives of the Muridae family, which are very numerous in pre-Saharan Africa, develop the desert, apparently less successfully, with the exception of only one of their species, the Egyptian jerboa, is widespread, and the rest are confined to separate areas of the Mediterranean coastal region. Other families of rodents are represented by a small number of species, often with small or broken ranges. Dormouse and mole rats are not truly desert rodents and exist as relict populations in a few outlying areas. Gundia or comb-toed rats and hyraxes are rock dwellers, forming isolated populations in mountains and other rocky habitats. The only other group of small herbivores in the Sahara are the hares, which form scattered populations in places where grasses grow in sufficient numbers.

An interesting and important group of small predators are insectivores and carnivores. Insectivores are represented by hedgehogs, shrews and long-eared jumpers. Hedgehogs are rarely seen, but they are quite widespread in areas teeming with insects; shrews are rarer and occur in rocky or wet habitats. Carnivores include three types of foxes, two types of mustelids, genet, mongoose, two types of cats. The populations of all these predators are small and dispersed, mainly due to the difficulty of obtaining food.

Monitor lizards are the most famous lizards. In the sandy areas of the northwest Sahara, there is a large desert monitor, which is 100-120 cm long. It is most often found in the reins and dunes, preferring hard areas where it can find shelter and prey. The desert monitor lizard feeds on lizards, sometimes feasts on snakes and birds. A hungry monitor digs holes and eats small rodents, in particular jerboas and gerbils.

In the extreme south of the Sahara, monitor lizard can be found on outcrops of granite rocks. During the day, these reptiles make long sorties at a distance of 4-5 km from their burrow. Going on such a long journey for them, they hope to find islands of vegetation in the desert, in the thickets of which you can hide from the heat and heat.

From enemies, including humans, monitor lizards defend themselves with the help of a tail and sharp claws, sometimes they can bite into the body of an animal with their teeth. The monitor lizards use their tail skillfully and masterfully. Waving them like cowboys with whips, they knock down even wild dogs. The bite of a monitor lizard is very dangerous: pathogenic microbes remaining on his teeth lead to suppuration of the wound, and the animal (like a person) can die from an infection.

On the territory of the central countries of Africa, the Nile monitor lizard lives - a well-known lover of crocodile eggs and small crocodiles. By extracting these delicacies, Nile monitor lizards show ingenuity and sharpness. They go hunting in pairs, one of them distracts the attention of the mother, the other at this time robs the egg laying. It is not easy to tame these lizards, they often run away from the cage, preferring freedom and tedious search for food. They eat quite a lot, they can swallow 10 eggs very quickly. Often Nile monitors raid chicken coops, devouring eggs and chickens.

Gray monitor lizards live in North Africa, most often they can be found in dry and rocky areas. Here, between rocky hills on sandy plains, he attacks small mammals. Upon an unexpected meeting with a person, representatives of this species of lizards instantly rush to the chest or face; attacking large mammals, they bite into their stomach. Gray monitor lizards are guests of many zoos in the world. They very quickly get used to life in captivity, are tamed and do not harm people.

Mamba is the most terrible and dangerous snake in Africa, distributed from the Sahara to the south of the continent. The locals are not afraid of cobras or vipers as much as these tree snakes. If ordinary snakes crawl at a speed of 1 km / h, then the mamba is able to reach speeds of up to 11.3 km / h, and it moves even faster along the branches of trees. In terms of speed of movement, mamba ranks second in the world.

Before biting, the snake raises its head, opens its mouth wide and hisses softly (and such a threat is usually short-lived), then swiftly attacks the victim and plunges its long poisonous teeth into it. The protective coloring allows it to remain invisible in the foliage; almost all mambas are painted green. But you can meet her not only in the thicket of the forest, but also in the fields, and sometimes these snakes even penetrate into houses.

Despite its impressive length (up to 4.5 m), mamba glides through trees and shrubs with fantastic dexterity and dexterity, seeping through dense vegetation without hindrance.

Mambas feed on birds and rodents. Not all mamba bites are fatal, and snake danger in the tropics is exaggerated.

Sahara Agama - These are reptiles that live in the Sahara. Some agamas live on rocky mountain cliffs, deftly and nimbly climb the rocks, others can be seen on wide and flat plateaus, but they all easily tolerate high temperatures and excess sunlight. Agamas feed on beetles, locusts, ants and termites, which are especially found in the desert after rains. Due to the protective coloration among cereal vegetation, it is very difficult to notice the agama.

The largest of all the agamas is the Saharan, locals call it dabb. Males of this species are easily distinguished from females, their backs are decorated with a pattern of spots, lines and stripes. The color scheme of the picture depends on the habitat of the agama and combines yellow, green and red-orange tones. Females are most often painted dirty yellow or gray. Agamas try to stay away from settlements and villages, because people catch them and eat them. Both plants and insects serve as food for the Saharan agama. These reptiles spend most of the day hunting for locusts, sometimes attaching themselves to rock ledges and tracking insects.

The largest inhabitant of the Sahara is the camel. It belongs to the order of calluses. Its characteristic features are a long neck with an elongated head, a split upper lip, a special structure of teeth, the absence of horns and posterior incisors, and calloused soles.

Two species of camels are known: the swift-footed two-humped Bactrian, living mainly in the Asian steppes, and the one-humped dromedary, common to the Sahara. The dromedary can also run fast, but prefers a measured caravan pace, which covers 4-4.5 km per hour. A pack camel can carry a load of up to 200 kg for weeks, being content with a small amount of water and food, and doing thirty to forty kilometers daily.

A camel can go without water for a long time. In its hump, it contains fat, from which water is formed as a result of transformations. In addition, with sweat, he releases a small amount of liquid. During the day, when the sun is burning, his body temperature rises to 40C, only after that he begins to sweat, which allows him to conserve a lot of water. At night, when the air temperature drops, the camel's body temperature drops significantly, sometimes even up to 34C.

Conclusion

It is difficult to count the number of species living in the Sahara. But according to approximate data, there are about 1,400 plant species and about 100 animal species in the desert now. In this abstract, examples of only some species are given, their descriptions are given. Also in this work, the features of organisms living in the Sahara are revealed.

Bibliography

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Geographic features

The Sahara Desert is located in Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, Chad, Libya, Morocco, Mali, Niger, Western Sahara and Mauritania. In summer, the sand warms up to a temperature of 80 degrees. This is one of the few places where evaporation exceeds several times the amount of precipitation. On average, about 100 mm of precipitation per year falls in the Sahara desert, and evaporation is up to 5500 mm. On hot, rainy days, raindrops disappear by evaporating before they hit the ground.

There is fresh water under the Sahara. There are huge reserves of it here: under Egypt, Chad, Sudan and Libya there is a huge lake, in which there are 370 thousand cubic meters of water.

The desertification of the Sahara desert began about five thousand years ago. The found rock paintings of those times prove that several thousand years ago there was a savannah in place of the sands with a large number of lakes and rivers. Now in these areas in the sand you can see huge channels. During the rains, they are filled with water, turning into full-fledged rivers.

In the photo of the Sahara desert, solid sands are visible. They occupy a large area. In addition to them, in the desert there are sandy-pebble, pebble, stony, saline types of soil. The thickness of the sands is on average about 150 m, and the largest hills can reach a height of 300 m.

According to scientists, in order to scoop out all the sand from the desert, each person on Earth had to endure three million buckets.

Climate

Here is the real kingdom of wind and sand. In summer, the temperature in the Sahara desert rises to fifty degrees and above, and in winter - up to thirty. In the southern part of the Sahara, the climate is tropical, dry, and in the north - subtropical.

Rivers

Despite the drought and heat, there is life in the desert, but only near water bodies. The largest and greatest river is the Nile. It flows through desert lands. In the last century, a reservoir was built on the banks of the Nile. Because of this, a large lake Toshka was formed. The Niger flows in the southwest, and within this river there are several lakes.

Mirages

The air temperature in the Sahara desert is so high that at certain moments mirages are created. Exhausted by the heat, travelers begin to see oases with green palm trees and water. It seems to them that these objects are two kilometers away from them, but in fact the distance is measured at five hundred or more kilometers. This is an optical illusion that occurs due to the refraction of light at the border of different temperatures. There are hundreds of thousands of such mirages per day in the desert. There are even special maps designed for travelers that tell you where, when and what you can see.

Animal and plant world

It is amazing that the desert is filled with a variety of animals. Over the millennia of evolution, they have adapted to survive in such conditions.

Animals of the Sahara desert are found everywhere, but most often near rivers and lakes, oases. In total, there are about four thousand species. Even in such an arid region as Death Valley, where there is no rain for several years, there are a variety of fauna. Here you can even meet thirteen species of fish.

Desert lizards are able to collect moisture from the environment. Sahara is a habitat for camels, monitor lizards, scorpions, snakes, sand cats.

All plants that grow in the desert have their roots deep underground. They are able to get water at a depth of more than twenty meters. Mostly thorns and cacti grow in the Sahara.

Amazing weather facts

Where the Sahara desert is located, real miracles are happening with the weather. As mentioned above, during the day the air warms up to fifty degrees and above, and at night the temperature drops sharply - to zero and below. There have even been snowfalls here. A photo of the Sahara Desert in the snow can be seen in our article - this amazing phenomenon happens about once every hundred years.

Once every few years, in some parts of the desert, such an amount of precipitation falls that there is enough moisture to transform the area. It is rapidly turning into a flowering steppe. Plant seeds can be in the sand for a long time, waiting for moisture.

There are oases in the desert. There is always a small pond in the center, and vegetation around it. Under such oases there are huge lakes, with an area larger than our Baikal. Groundwater feeds surface lakes.

Desert Features

The desert is a unique natural phenomenon. Travelers can watch how huge dunes move. Due to the winds, the sands are shifting right before our eyes. And in the Sahara the wind blows every day. This is due to the relatively flat surface of the territory. And if there is no wind for at least twenty days a year, then this is real luck.

The size of the desert is constantly changing. If you look at satellite images, you can see how the Sahara is expanding and shrinking in size. This is due to the rainy seasons: where they passed in large numbers, everything is quickly covered with vegetation.

The Sahara is the world's largest oil and gas field. There are deposits of iron, gold, uranium, copper, tungsten and other rare metals.

In the center of the desert is the Tibesti Plateau, which covers the south of Libya and part of Chad. Above this territory rises the Emmi-Kusi volcano, about three and a half kilometers high. In this place almost every year you can see snowfalls.

Tenere occupies the northern part of the desert - this is a sandy sea with an area of \u200b\u200babout 400 kilometers. This natural creation is located in northern Niger and western Chad.

How people live

In those places where the Sahara Desert is located, people once lived, trees grew, there were many lakes and rivers. After the area became deserted, people went to the banks of the Nile, forming the ancient Egyptian civilization.

In some parts of the Sahara, people are building houses out of salt. They do not worry that their housing will melt from the water, because the rains here are rare and in small quantities. Their bulk does not have time to reach the ground, evaporating in the clouds.

Population

The Sahara is a sparsely populated area. About two million people live here, and most of the people live near water bodies, on islands with vegetation that allow them to feed livestock.

There were times when the territory was densely populated. In the desert, people are engaged in cattle breeding, and along the banks of rivers - agriculture. There are people involved in other crafts such as fishing.

Once upon a time, a trade route passed through the desert, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with northern Africa. Previously, camels were used to move goods, and now two highways have been laid across the Sahara, connecting several large cities. One of them passes through the largest oasis.

Desert location

Where is the Sahara desert located and how big is it? This miracle of nature is located in Africa, in the northern part of the continent. It stretched from west to east for about five thousand kilometers, and from north to south for a thousand kilometers. The area of the Sahara is about nine million square kilometers. This area is comparable to Brazil.

On the western side, the Sahara is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. In the north, the desert borders the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlas Mountains.

The Sahara captures more than ten states. Most of its territory is not inhabited, as these lands are not suitable for human life. There are no oases, rivers, lakes. All settlements are located precisely along the banks of water bodies, and most of the population of the continent lives on the banks of the Nile.

Scientists on the Sahara

The Sahara continues to evolve. Gradually, it captures more and more new territories. According to scientists, every year it wins the land from people, turning them into sands. Scientists' forecasts are disappointing. If the processes of depopulation continue, then in two hundred years the whole of Africa will become one huge Sahara.

The results of the ongoing observations showed that every year the Sahara increases in size by ten kilometers. And every year the covered area increases. If the desert growth continues, then all the rivers and lakes of the continent will dry up forever, forcing people to leave Africa and move to other countries of the world.

Sahara Desert- the largest desert in the world, which covers an area of almost 10 million square kilometers and occupies almost a third of the entire territory of the mainland. The desert area touches 10 neighboring African states. The Sahara is the hottest and driest place on the planet. The temperature here rarely drops below 30 degrees. Rain is extremely rare here. But powerful storms, raising whirlwinds of sand to a height of 1 kilometer, are not uncommon here.

The most ancient information about the desert dates back to the beginning of our era. Residents of the countries neighboring the desert often refer to the desert as an endless sea of sand. Here you can find only dark sand, clay and stone scorched by the sun. All that can be found here except for sandy expanses is a handful of oases and a single river.

The Sahara is an endless sea of sand.

Sahara (Sahra) in Arabic means a brown monotonous empty plain. Saying the name of the desert several times aloud, a slight wheezing is felt, which intensifies with each new time of continuous pronunciation. Perhaps in this way the Arabs wanted to show that the further a person goes into the desert and the longer he wanders through it, the stronger the wheezing of an emaciated person is heard, who is subject to sizzling heat and becomes weak without water and moist air. In our country, the word "Sahara" is pronounced somewhat softer than among Africans, but the formidable charm of the desert atmosphere is still felt in it.

It is difficult to refute the fact that the Sahara is the hottest place on the planet. Here, the air temperature annually reaches over 55 degrees, and once a maximum figure of 73 degrees was recorded.

But you are probably interested to know how the average Russian or European feels when visiting the Sahara. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the words of one tourist who spent 3 days in the desert:

"Morning. A huge scorching sun rises below the horizon and heats up the sand in a few minutes. After a few more minutes, it is impossible to stand on him barefoot, his legs burn and are very strong. The air is incredibly dry and hot, it burns your lips, as soon as you lick them, they immediately begin to dry and crack. It is worth mentioning the proverb that says that in the Sahara the wind rises with the sun and subsides with it. Indeed, in the daytime, the wind can rage very strongly and bring strong sandstorms, which are extremely difficult for an ordinary person to survive without special adaptations. At night, the unbearable heat subsides, and the wind blows with a very noticeable coolness. Such differences are difficult to tolerate even stones and stone structures. They burst here, making a barely audible crack. Because of this nuance with stones, they were even given the name "Shooters", and among the local population there is a saying that even stones scream from the heat in sugar.

However, deserted sugar also cannot be called. Here you can often meet nomadic Tuareg, especially in uninhabited areas. Local residents called them blue ghosts, since their main attribute is a blue veil that completely covers the face, leaving only a thin strip around the eyes to see the route. It is customary to give such bandages-veils at the age of 18 to young men who have become men. From this moment on, he can put on a bandage at any time, however, when the accessory is on his face, it cannot be removed until death. It is only allowed to move the mask to the level of the nose when eating.

Where is the desert located?

The endless desert is easy to find, focusing on the territory between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. In a north-south direction, it spreads across the entire territory from the foothills of the Atlas to Lake Chad, along the savannah zone. The territory of the desert in different sources indicates different and is within 7-10 thousand square kilometers.

Weather.

The desert climate is expected, but we will deal with it in more detail. The climate of the Sahara desert is classified as extra-arid. Dry weather prevails here with tropical hot days. Increased humidity with rainfall more than 1-2 times a year can be seen only in the northern part. This fact explains that the main part of the desert is affected by the northeast trade wind, which "walks" through it for a whole year.

The northern Atlas mountain range, which stretches across almost the entire territory of the African continent, has an active influence on the climatic conditions of the desert. He does not allow the clouds to penetrate the desert. It rains regularly in the southern part of the Sahara, but it dries up and does not reach the central parts of the desert.

A very high coefficient of air dryness and excessively active evaporation prevent rain from falling normally to the ground in any corner of the desert. Although, the Sahara is still divided into three zones according to the amount of precipitation:

South (precipitations periodically fall, but very scarce);
Central (no precipitation, except for 1-2 times a year);
North (there is practically no precipitation, as the clouds linger in the mountains).

The direction of the desert from west to east also has its own characteristics. Near the Atlantic Ocean, you can occasionally encounter fog, but you should not expect rain either, since the Canary Current cools the west wind.

Air humidity - 30-40%. On the outskirts of the desert, the figures may be slightly higher. Active evaporation of precipitation (6000 millimeters per year) already says a lot about the desert itself. On the territory of narrow coastal strips, precipitation is slightly higher and evaporation can fall up to 2500 millimeters. The earth reaches only 50-200 millimeters of precipitation per year. There are also areas where not a single drop of rain has been observed for the past hundred years.

The desert comes to life only during heavy rains. At this time, stormy water flows lead to flooding of all neighboring villages. Only then does the desert truly come to life. Unfortunately, these facts are very rare. There is little rainfall in the desert, but it is overflowing with groundwater, which is actively used by the inhabitants of many African villages.

Due to the large temperature differences between day and night, most of the Sahara is characterized by dew. But on Ahaggar and Tibesti, snow was recorded several years ago.

The critical temperature in summer can reach 70 degrees, however, forecasters say that the maximum summer temperature constantly fluctuates around 57 degrees. The average annual temperature in the Sahara is 37 degrees. The minimum indicators in the mountains can reach sub-zero temperatures, but during severe January colds, the average temperature throughout the desert is in the range of 15-17 degrees.

Sandstorms can be found here almost daily, as well as prolonged strong winds. Sometimes strong storms can drag on for several days. The wind speed in these cases can be over 50 meters per second, which is almost twice as strong as a hurricane. Caravaners and Bedouins often talk about how saddles with a camel can fly 200 meters away, and stones the size of a fist calmly roll on the ground like a pea.

Strong winds are often accompanied by sandy dust. Visibility becomes zero, looking at the sun is like an eclipse, and the wild animals of the Sahara desert completely lose their bearings.

Sahara is a place of eternal sands and hurricanes that can carry dust and sand to Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.

Sahara - cities walled up with sand

According to historians, the Sahara has not always been a dry and lifeless land. During the Paleolithic period, which falls on the period of 10,000 years ago, there was a more humid climate and instead of endless sands there were savannahs and steppes. The local population was engaged in agriculture, hunting, fishing, cattle breeding. As confirmation of these words, there are many rock paintings in all corners of the desert.

Since that time, many large cities and villages of the present Sahara have been buried under the sand. Archaeologists still find elements of houses and various structures under a large thickness of sand.

Boston scientists claim that in the west of Sudan, in the place where the desert is now, there used to be a huge lake similar to Baikal. According to them, there was a lake at a level of 570 meters. Scientists believe that several rivers took their sources from this reservoir. Now, like many villages, the lake is hidden under a layer of sand.

It is very difficult to determine the age of the buried lake, but in the old days it was regularly replenished from heavy rains.

The drought in what is now the Sahara began 5,000 years ago. At first, the grass dried up here because of the scorching sun, the waters gradually evaporated and soaked into the ground for recharge. Herbivores instinctively began to run away to better feeding places. They were followed by predatory groups of animals of the Sahara desert. Most of the animal species of those times are still preserved. They found shelter in Central Africa, where they live today.

The last to leave the territory, which was already unsuitable for existence, were people. Only a few decided to stay, claiming that this was their home. Centuries later, they began to be called nomads or Tuareg.

The only place that now reminds of the former valley on the site of the Sahara is the plateau of many rivers. It was in this form that life once flourished here.

Sahara - a vast sandy plateau pierced by a river

The Sahara is far from being one huge desert, as we used to think. For Africans, the Sahara is a generalized name for a huge number of small areas that are connected by the relief space and the climate of the Sahara desert. The eastern part of the Sahara is called the Libyan Desert, the voids from the right bank of the Nile to the Red Sea are the Arabian. South of the Arabian - Nubian. In addition to the above deserts of the Sahara, there are many small ones that we will not mention. Most of them are separated by mountain ranges and massifs.

The territory of the Sahara has several high mountains, up to 3.5 kilometers high, and the dried-up crater of the Emi-Kusi volcano. Its diameter is 12 kilometers. But most of the territory is occupied by sand dunes, hollows, occasionally decorated with salt marshes and oases. Do not forget about dry depressions, one of which is located in the Libyan desert. Its bottom is at a level of 150 meters below ocean level.

All these elements perfectly complement the desert. When viewed from above, an unimaginable outlook opens up, which causes great delight.

But in general, the Sahara is a huge plateau, which is broken only by the depressions of the Nile valleys and Lake Chad. Mountain ranges are located only in three places, the rest of the territory is a once-existing plain covered with sand.

Plants of the Sahara Desert

The northern part of the desert is much richer in flora than the southern part and is categorically different in plant species. The northern part is more characteristic of the Mediterranean flora. The southern part of the Sahara has rare patches of paleotropical flora.

Most of the plants here belong to the endemic genus of plants, which, in turn, belong to the red-flowered, composite and haze families. Vegetation is very sparse in drier and extra-arid areas.

The southwest of Libya is rich in only nine plants of the Sahara desert, which can exist in European countries. If you drive along the southernmost border of the Libyan desert, you can not meet a single plant. But in the Central Sahara, the diversity of flora is wider than in other regions. A wide variety of vegetation is achieved here only due to the two desert uplands Ahaggat and Tibesti. At the highlands of Tibetsi, near water bodies, ficus and ferns grow. The territory of Ahaggat is rich in relic specimens of the Mediterranean cypress.

After light rains, ephemera sprout in the desert. Often you can find grass-shrub formations, tiers in the form of acacias, undersized randonia and cornulaka. In the northern belt you can find jujube.

The extreme west of the desert is rich in large succulent plants. Here you can quite often meet cactus euphorbia, sumac, wolfberry, acacia. The coast of the Atlantic Ocean is covered with Afghan trees. Cereal plants of the Sahara Desert, feather grass, mallow, ragwort, bonfire, etc. dominate on the mountain ranges.

Throughout the desert, you can find date palms that grow near rivers and oases.

Sahara Desert Animals

The desert fauna is very rich, unlike the flora. More than 500 species representatives of different groups live here, including:

About 70 species of mammals;
More than 300 representatives of beetles;
More than 200 representatives of birds and winged animals;
Approximately 80 species of ants.

Touching upon species endemism, it is worth noting that in some groups it can reach 70%, for example, in insects. There are no endemics among birds, and only 40% among mammals.

Among mammals, rodents are the most common. In particular, the families of squirrels, jerboas, hamsters and mice are common. Large ungulates in the Sahara are only partly distributed. The harsh conditions of survival in the desert do not allow them to exist normally here. Moreover, the population of nearby countries is actively catching them for their own needs.

A lot of antelopes live in the Sahara. The largest antelope is the aryx. Maned sheep can be found on plateaus and coasts.

From the class of predators, one can single out striped jackals, which are very numerous here, Egyptian mongooses, miniature chanterelles and velvet cats.

Birds in the Sahara are very rare. Fritillaries, larks, desert sparrows are regulars of the desert. Less often you can meet the desert crow, eagle owl, sandpipers. Representatives of lizard-like and serpent-like animals have adapted very well to sugar.

The most important symbol of the Sahara desert has long and still remains the camel.

Mirages - the most mysterious phenomenon of the Sahara

A rare inhabitant of the planet earth dare to travel to the Sahara. Along the way through the sandy expanses, you may encounter mirages more than once. It is worth noting that they always appear in the same places. Some travelers of the desert even managed to draw up a map-plan of the appearance of mirages. Now mirage maps contain about 160 thousand marks of their location. The maps contain a detailed description of what is seen at these points: oases, wells, mountain ranges, groves, etc.

The sunset in the desert lands looks no less beautiful. The sky, adorned with the rays of the setting sun, daily creates a new harmony of shades of blue, red and pink. All this beauty gathers on the horizon in several layers, sparkles, burns and changes in form, gradually fading away. After a couple of minutes, a gloomy night sets in, in which the brightest stars are barely visible.

Now a trip to the Sahara is available to anyone. If you leave Algiers, you can get to the Sahara along a good road in one day. Along the way, you can see the stunning El Kantara Gorge. The gorge got its name because it connects the populated area and the desert. Translated from the African dialect as the Gateway to the Sahara. The road here runs through clay and rocky plains, as well as small rocks. When viewed from afar, the rocks resemble a fortress or a tower.

Guell Er Richat - The largest structure in the world

The object is located in the Sahara in Mauritania. Its diameter is almost 50 kilometers. According to ancient legends, this ring was formed more than one and a half billion years ago. No one knows the reasons for the appearance of the structure, but some scientists believe that Guel-er-Rishat arose as a result of a meteorite fall. Today, research teams continue to study this piece from space and cannot explain how the perfectly even shape was preserved.

The company site offers you excursions to the Sahara. These are short-term trips for 3-4 days to exhausting desert regions. You will be able to ride camels with the overseer. The most daring travelers and thrill-seekers can go through the entire desert. Before committing such madness, consult a doctor.

Borders

Of course, a desert of this size could not occupy the territory of one or two African countries. It captures Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Chad.

From the west, the Sahara is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, from the north it is bounded by the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, and from the east by the Red Sea. The southern border of the desert is defined by a zone of inactive ancient sand dunes at 16 ° N, south of which is the Sahel - a transitional region to the Sudanese savannah.

Regions

It is difficult to attribute the Sahara to any particular type of desert, although the sandy-stony type prevails here. The following regions are distinguished in its composition: Tenere, Great Eastern Erg, Great Western Erg, Tanezruft, Hamada el-Hamra, Erg-Igidi, Erg-Shesh, Arabian, Algerian, Libyan, Nubian deserts, Talak desert.

Climate

The climate of the Sahara is unique and is due to its location in the zone of high-altitude anticyclones, descending air currents and dry trade winds of the northern hemisphere. It rarely rains in the desert, and the air is dry and hot. The sky of the Sahara is cloudless, but it will not surprise travelers with blue transparency, since the finest dust is constantly in the air. Intense solar exposure and evaporation during the day gives way to strong radiation at night. At first, the sand heats up to 70 ° C, it radiates with heat from the rocks, and in the evening the surface of the Sahara cools much faster than air. The average temperature in July is 35°.

High temperature, with its sharp fluctuations, and very dry air make being in the desert very difficult. Only from December to February comes the "Saharan winter" - a period with relatively cool weather. In winter, temperatures in the Northern Sahara can drop below 0° at night, although during the day it rises to 25°. Sometimes it even snows here.

Desert nature

Bedouin walking on the dunes

Despite the fact that the desert is usually represented as a continuous layer of hot sand that forms dunes, the Sahara has a slightly different relief. In the center of the desert, mountain ranges rise, more than 3 km high, but along the outskirts, pebbly, rocky, clay and sandy deserts have formed, in which there is practically no vegetation. It is there that nomads live, driving herds of camels across rare pastures.

Oasis

The vegetation of the Sahara consists of bushes, grasses and trees in the highlands and oases located along the riverbeds. Some plants have fully adapted to the harsh climate and grow within 3 days after rain, and then sown seeds for 2 weeks. At the same time, only a small part of the desert is fertile - these areas take moisture from underground rivers.

The well-known one-humped camels, some of which were domesticated by nomads, still live in small herds, feeding on cactus thorns and parts of other desert plants. But these are not the only ungulates living in the desert. Pronghorn Addaxes, Maned Rams, Dorcas gazelles and Oryx antelopes, whose curved horns are almost as long as their bodies, are also well adapted to survive in such difficult conditions. The light color of the wool allows them not only to escape from the heat during the day, but also not to freeze at night.

Several species of rodents, including the gerbil, the Abessinian hare, which comes to the surface only at dusk, and hides in burrows during the day, the jerboa, which has surprisingly long legs, allowing it to move with huge jumps like a kangaroo.

Predators also live in the Sahara desert, the largest of which is the fennec fox - a small fox with wide ears. Also there live dune cats, horned vipers and rattlesnakes, leaving winding traces on the surface of the sand, and many other species of animals.

Video: From Casablanca to the Sahara

Sahara in the movies

The mesmerizing landscapes of the Sahara never cease to attract filmmakers. Many films were shot on the territory of Tunisia, and the creators of two famous paintings left a memory of themselves among the sands. The planet Tatooine is not actually lost in space, but is located in the Sahara. Here is an entire "out-of-this-world" village from the latest Star Wars series. At the end of filming, the "aliens" left their homes, and now bizarre dwellings and a gas station for interplanetary aircraft are at the disposal of rare tourists. In the neighborhood of Tatooine, the white Arab house from The English Patient is still visible. You can get here only by jeep and with an experienced guide, because you have to drive off-road, with a complete lack of signs and landmarks. Fans of The English Patient need to hurry a little more and the ruthless dune will finally bury this unusual attraction under the sand.

We say "desert" - we mean "Sahara", and in Arabic there is no other word for desert except for the actual "sugar". And this is no coincidence: the Sahara is the largest sandy area on the globe, stretching in North Africa from the Red Sea to the Atlantic for almost five thousand kilometers. Dunes reaching a height of 300 meters, many kilometers of ideally flat areas of saline soil, lush oases and endless dunes that go beyond the horizon - all this makes up one of the most amazing landscapes on the planet. However, despite the area of more than 8 million km, the Sahara is not so easy to visit, which is to blame for the extremely turbulent political situation in the region. However, you can still take a glimpse of the majesty of the desert at least out of the corner of your eye - the main thing is to know where and when to go.

The Sahara lies within the borders of eleven states, but you can visit without problems, perhaps, only three of them - Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco.

A bit of geography and politics

The Sahara occupies almost the entire area of North Africa from the Mediterranean Sea to 16°N latitude, except for the rather narrow coastline of the continent, which is characterized by lush vegetation. Its area is 8.6 million km, which is about a third of the total area of the African continent. From west to east, the desert stretches for 4800 km, and from north to south its length is from 800 to 1200 km.

Contrary to popular belief, the Sahara is not only sand dunes and rare oases. The landscape here is no less diverse than in other natural areas: there are rocky plateaus, salt marshes, volcanic formations, highlands and ridges. The sandy areas of the Sahara are called ergs, they are only 25% of the total desert area. And rocky areas are called "reg".

The Sahara lies within the borders of eleven states - Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Sudan and Chad. You can visit without problems, perhaps, only three of them - Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. However, the most breathtaking landscapes lie, alas, in Algeria, Libya, Chad and Niger, which are difficult for tourists to reach.

Climate in the region

The northern part of the Sahara (which is most often visited by tourists) is influenced by a dry subtropical climate with relatively cool winters and hot summers. The average daily temperature of the summer season is about +37...+39 °С, at night the thermometer drops to +28...+30 °С. Winter is characterized by strong temperature fluctuations between daytime and nighttime: during the day the air warms up to +15 ... +17 ° С, while at night there may be zero readings or even frosts. Strong southerly winds are not uncommon, bringing masses of sand - on such days, life in the Sahara freezes.

In the southern regions of the Sahara, the climate is tropical - summers are even hotter here, winters are colder.

It is best to visit the "civilized" Sahara (that is, its northern part) from October to early May, while daytime temperatures have not yet become unbearable. If you are going to the Sahara for a few days, it is worth remembering that in December and January the nights are very cool, and you will need a warm sleeping bag. In June and September, you can visit the Sahara only if you tolerate high temperatures well.

Sahara civilized

So, where should a traveler who decides to see the indescribable beauty of the Sahara desert go? The choice, frankly, is not great: Africa is generally not among the prosperous regions of the globe, and Northern and Central - in particular.

Tunisia

The Tunisian south protrudes like a long narrow dagger into the Sahara - to the greatest "depth" in comparison with other "desert-possessing" countries accessible to the public. The landscapes of Tunisia were not the most outstanding, but not dull either. The “chip” of the Tunisian Sahara is a wide variety of landscapes: you can see crescent-shaped dunes, and endless salt marshes, and filming locations - Star Wars was filmed on the salt lake Chott el-Jerid and in Matmata, and the camel’s neck mountain lit up in “ English patient.

The gateway to the Sahara Desert in Tunisia is the city of Douz, located on the border of the sands and the oasis of date palms. Its tourist area (and there are about seven very high-quality hotels here) is placed right on the expanses of the Sahara - get off the sidewalk and you will feel the finest, like powder, sand under your feet. Excursions to the Sahara lasting from 1 hour (camel ride to the nearest dunes) to weekly and even two-week expeditions are regularly sent from Douz. Well, those who want to live "visiting the Sahara" can be offered to stay in a hotel in a remote oasis of Ksar Gilan - 147 km south of Douz, a thermal spring and the ruins of the Roman fort Tisavar as a historical excursion.

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Morocco

The southeastern region of Morocco, lying at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains, is the most convenient region of the Sahara for tourists to visit. In addition to the amazing landscapes - red dunes and exotic fortresses, many of which "participated" in the filming of many films (Ait Benhaddou is the most famous), there is also a natural and historical attraction - the Draa Valley. This is a whole wonderful world of lush oases, fortified Kasbah forts and Berber settlements. Once upon a time, it was here that the difficult 52-day journey of trans-Saharan caravans, carrying precious goods from the capital of the ancient empire of Mali, Timbuktu, ended.

Today, popular excursions begin in the settlement of M'Hamid, from where tourists are transported along a picturesque 40-kilometer route to the heart of the Moroccan Sahara - Erg Shigaga. The second run-in route starts in the town of Merzouga, east of M'Hamid, and continues through the territory of another erg - Shebbi. It is here that a really brilliant collection of eternal dunes appears before the eyes of the traveler.

Egypt

The western regions of Egypt - although a vast, but not very interesting region of the Sahara - especially in comparison with the landscapes of hard-to-reach countries. However, in order to get an idea of the desert, this area is quite suitable. More interesting here are the oases to the south of Siwa - a chain of lush emerald bushes, connected by roads barely visible on the rocky surface of the desert. In Siwa itself, among other things, you can see a medieval hut fortress and a temple dating from the time of Alexander the Great.

The southern oases of Al Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra and Bahariya are ideal starting points for excursions into the heart of the desert - by camel, 4x4 jeep or on your own. Outside the last settlements, the vast expanses of the White and Black deserts (they are all parts of the Sahara) and the picturesque Crystal Mountains begin, and even further south lie the filming locations for another scene of The English Patient - the Cave of Swimmers and the Gilf-Kebir plateau, on which once existed the oasis of Zerzura that disappeared without a trace.

Sugar hard to reach

The most magnificent landscapes of the Sahara lie, which is not surprising, in its inner regions - it is here that the highest 300-meter dunes are located, sands of shades from rich yellow and ocher-red to faint pink and almost white sing their songs, and dunes roam. Unfortunately, the situation in the region leaves much to be desired: the South Saharan countries are regularly shaken by internal conflicts, and tourism here is either simply not developed or is completely dangerous.

Algeria

Algeria is the country with the highest amount of sugar "in the blood" and the safest of the hard-to-reach countries. 80% of its territory is occupied by the sands of this great desert. The sandy seas of the Sahara in Algeria are the longest and most deserted, and in the southeast of the country you can see the fantastic landscapes of the Ahaggar highlands and the Tassili mountains. By the way, in the Tassil mountains there is one of the oldest caves with rock art - an honorary member of the UNESCO List. Tourism here is at an embryonic level - excursions will be offered with pleasure, but the organization will not shine, and there are almost no hunters to take risks. Nevertheless, for the future: among the “non-sandy” pearls of the Algerian Sahara are the cities of Ouargla, the “golden key to the desert”, Mzab with its fantastic architecture and Beni Isgen behind the impressive fortress gates.

Libya

Libya, alas, is lost to the world in general and tourism in particular, so one can only dream of traveling to the Libyan Sahara. This is doubly disappointing, since it is here that one of the most incredible landscapes of the desert is located - the volcanic mountains of Acacus. Black basalt rocks rise directly from the sands of the central Sahara - and it seems that we are not at all on planet Earth. The area is on the UNESCO List - not only because of the landscapes, but also because of the prehistoric rock paintings and inscriptions, some of which are over 12 thousand years old. Another must-see place is the Tuareg citadel, the oasis of the Ghats.

It is definitely not worth going to Chad, Niger and Mali to get acquainted with the Sahara without armed guards.

Mauritania

Mauritania is not as inaccessible to those suffering from the Sahara as it might seem, and among active independent travelers from Europe continues to be a popular destination for car and motor rallies. It is easy to enter here from Morocco, a visa will cost from 50 to 95 EUR, permission to enter by personal transport can also be obtained without problems. However, this direction is definitely for daredevils - although the country is quite safe compared to its neighbors in the region, no one will give guarantees of returning safe and sound. Of the interesting - the endless desert plateau Adrar, where you can understand the scale of the Sahara as well as possible. Prices on the page are for August 2018.

Sahara desert water resources in brief. The Sahara is the largest desert on the planet. Fenech - the faithful companion of the Little Prince from the famous fairy tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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