Sahara Desert

This attraction is related to the countries:AlgeriaAlgeria , EgyptLibyaAlgeria , Egypt , Libya , MauritaniaMaliMoroccoNigerSudanTunisia

Sahara is the largest desert located in North Africa. It is the largest desert on Earth! The Sahara covers an area of 8.6 million km² or about 30% of Africa. If the desert were a state, it would be comparable to Brazil with an area of 8.5 million km². The Sahara stretches 4800 km from west to east, 800-1200 km from north to south. There are no rivers here, except for small sections of the Nile and Niger, and single oases. The amount of precipitation here is no more than 50 mm per year.

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The first mention of the name of the desert dates back to the 1st century A.D. Sahara means “desert” in Arabic. The first explorers, scientists and archaeologists mentioned the desert terrain hostile to man. Thus, back in the 5th century BC Herodotus in his works described the sand dunes, salt domes and gloominess of the desert world. Then the scientist Strabo described how desert dwellers cherish water. And 100 years later, Pliny confirmed the descriptions of other explorers and said that there was no water at all in the desert and rain was a very rare phenomenon.

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Video: the Sahara from the Egyptian side

Sahara in movie

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‘ class=”fancybox” >Planet Tatooine (Star Wars stills)

The mesmerizing landscapes of the Sahara never cease to attract moviegoers. Many movies have been filmed on the territory of Tunisia, and the creators of two famous pictures have left their memory among the sands. The planet Tatooine is not really lost in the cosmic distances, but is located in the Sahara. Here is located a whole “extraterrestrial” village from the latest series of “Star Wars”. At the end of filming “aliens” left their homes, and now the bizarre dwellings and gas station interplanetary aircraft at the disposal of rare tourists. The white Arabian house from The English Patient is still visible in the neighborhood of Tatooine. You can get here only by jeep and with an experienced guide, because you have to go off-road, with a complete lack of signs and landmarks. Fans of “The English Patient” need to hurry a little more and the merciless barchan will finally bury this unusual attraction under the sand.

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