Interesting Facts about the Sahara Desert

It covers the vast majority of northern Africa covering the majority of northern Africa, including Morocco covering the majority of northern Africa, including Morocco, the Sahara is the most well-known desert in the world. But how much do you have to know about this famous desert? Below are 10 interesting facts regarding the Sahara Desert that you might not have known about before.

The Oasis of Sand dunes in Erg Chebbi of the Sahara desert in Morocco, Africa

1. It's a popular belief about there is a misconception that the Sahara is the planet's most massive desert. It's actually the second largest hot desert after those of the Arctic and Antarctica, both of which are cold deserts. In summer temperature in the Sahara range from 38-46degC.

2. The Sahara Desert spans some 8,600,000 square kilometers. But, this varies in the course of time as the extent of the desert grows and shrinks in accordance with the seasons.

3. Scientists have estimated that the Sahara's size has increased to 10% bigger than it was century ago. While this may be due to natural cycles of climate but human-driven climate change is also the cause.

4. It covers nearly a third across the African continent The Sahara covers 11 countries. They include Egypt, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Western Sahara and Tunisia.

5. The Sahara takes its name from its Arabic word sahra meaning 'desert'.

6. Sand sheets and dunes cover approximately 25% of Sahara's surface. It also contains a variety of other land features, including salinity flats, plains of gravel plateaus, and mountains in which snow has been observed.

7. The Sahara's sand dunes are more than 180 meters high The highest point in the desert was an extinct volcanic peak known as Mount Koussi in Chad, with an elevation of 3,415 meters.

8. It's perhaps one of the most harsh environments on Earth however, the Sahara is the home to many species of animals that have adapted to life in extremes. Alongside goats and camels desert species include cheetahs gazelles, ostriches, Fennec fox , and monitor lizards. Other critters that are deadly include the deadly scorpion, the deathstalker, and the extremely poisonous Sand viper.

9. About 2.5 million people are considered to call Sahara home to around 2.5 million people. Sahara home, the majority of them are of Berber or Arabic roots. They live in permanent settlements close to water sources or live an intrepid lifestyle, traveling from one location to the next with herds or flocks of sheep, camels, or goats.

10. Saharan commerce routes had an integral role in the economics that ruled Ancient Africa. Copper salt, gold and copper were transported by camel caravans. These at their peak were made up in the many camels. There's even a document which mentions caravans of up to 12,000 camels that traveled across Egypt as well as Sudan.

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