Which desert covers much of northern Africa and is the largest hot desert on Earth?

The Sahara Desert covers much of northern Africa and is the largest hot desert on Earth.

The Sahara stretches across roughly 9.2 million square kilometres, making it comparable in area to the United States. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east and reaches across countries including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia.

The desert is not simply a sea of sand. Its landscape includes rocky plateaus, gravel plains, mountains, dry valleys and sand seas. The highest parts include the Tibesti and Ahaggar mountain regions. The Nile is a major river crossing the eastern Sahara, supporting dense settlement along its valley and delta.

A frequent mix-up is the Gobi, which is a large cold desert in Asia. Antarctica is the world’s largest desert overall because deserts are defined by very low precipitation, but the Sahara is the largest hot desert. The Sahara has also experienced greener periods in the past, including the African Humid Period.