The Sahara is the world’s largest low-latitude hot desert with an area spread over 3,600,000 sq miles. Emcompassing much of North Africa it covers large sections of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Niger and Tunisia. The Sahara mainly rocky stone plateaus, and large areas covered with sand dunes form only a minor part, though many of the sand dunes are over 590 ft high. Deeply dissected volcanic mountains like the Air Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Saharan Atlas, Tibesti Mountains also rise from the desert with the highest peak being Emi Koussi at 3,415 m. The Sahara has only two permanent rivers, the Nile and the Niger and a handful of lakes, but it has substantial underground reservoirs, or aquifers. Typically, the Sahara Desert experiences extremely limited to virtually no rainfall, powerful and capricious winds and wide temperature ranges, where the highest recorded temperature was 57.7°C in 1922 in Libya and falling by nearly 40 degrees at nightfall. A strong wind called the Sirroco at 100 km per hour originates in the Sahara and in fact, sand storms here can be so huge that they are visible from outer space! The Saharan flora comprises around 2800 endemic species of vascular plants like acacia trees, palms, succulents, spiny shrubs and grasses. Altogether, the Sahara hosts some 70 species of mammals, 90 species of resident birds, 100 species of reptiles, and numerous species of arthropods. The most famous animal is the dromedary camel which has been domesticated for thousands of years and used by the desert nomads. It is estimated that the Sahara’s entire population most having Berber or Arabic roots probably equals less than two million people, including those who live near water sources in permanent communities those who move from place to place with the seasons, and those who follow the ancient trade routes as permanent nomads.
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