Which desert contains the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu?

The desert containing the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu is the Sahara Desert.

Timbuktu stands on the southern edge of the Sahara in northern Mali, about 20 kilometers north of the Niger River. Its position near the desert’s southern margin helped make it a major crossroads between West African river regions and North African caravan routes.

The city grew from a seasonal settlement into a permanent town around the 11th or 12th century. Under the Mali Empire, especially during the 13th and 14th centuries, Timbuktu prospered through trade in gold, salt, ivory, and enslaved people and became a renowned center of Islamic scholarship.

Timbuktu is not in the Karakum, Danakil, or Namib deserts. Its Saharan setting also explains the city’s historic salt trade: caravans carried slabs from Taoudenni, a mining center about 664 kilometers north, across the Sahara to Timbuktu.