Sahara Desert
The world's largest hot desert — dunes, oases, and desertification.
The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert — covering much of North Africa from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Hyper-arid cores, gravel plains, sand seas, and isolated oases shape human movement and settlement.
Trade winds, the ITCZ seasonal shift, and Atlas/Hoggar highlands influence where rain occasionally falls on the desert margins.
- Desertification — Sahel margins to the south face grazing and drought pressure.
- Groundwater & oases — ancient aquifers support isolated agriculture.
- Solar potential — vast open land and intense sunshine.
See also: Sahel, Sub-Saharan Africa.
