Sahara
The Sahara spans 9.2 million square kilometers across North Africa, making it the largest hot desert on Earth and the third-largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, covering much of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, and parts of Morocco and Tunisia. The landscape is not just sand; only about five percent consists of ergs or sand seas. Most of the terrain is rocky hamada plateaus, gravel plains called reg, dry valleys known as wadi, and salt flats referred to as shatt or chott. An unusual geological formation exists in Mauritania called the Richat Structure, a deeply dissected mountain that rises from the flat ground. Several volcanic ranges pierce the horizon, including the Aïr Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Tibesti Mountains, and Adrar des Iforas. The highest peak in the entire region is Emi Koussi, a shield volcano located in the Tibesti range of northern Chad.
For several hundred thousand years, the Sahara has alternated between desert conditions and lush savanna grassland in a cycle lasting approximately 20,000 years. This pattern is caused by the precession of Earth's axis, which rotates around the Sun every 26,000 years and shifts the location of the North African monsoon. When the North African monsoon is at its strongest, annual precipitation increases, creating what scientists call the Green Sahara. During periods when the monsoon weakens, the land reverts to arid desert conditions. One theory suggests this climate shift began two or three million years ago due to glaciation during the Quaternary period. Another hypothesis points to the drying up of the ancient Tethys Sea around 7 million years ago as the primary driver. Between 8000 BCE and 6000 BCE, more rain fell on the Sahara because low pressure areas existed over collapsing ice sheets to the north. By 4200 BCE, however, the monsoon retreated south to where it sits today, leading to gradual desertification that left the region as dry as it was about 13,000 years ago.
Human remains from the Kiffian culture were discovered in 2000 at a site known as Gobero, located in Niger within the Ténéré Desert. This site represents the largest and earliest grave of Stone Age people found in the Sahara so far. The Kiffians lived between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago during the Neolithic Subpluvial, a time when the Sahara was verdant and wet. They were skilled hunters who lived on the shores of a lake present during the Holocene Wet Phase. Bones of many large savannah animals found nearby suggest they relied on these resources. The Kiffian people were tall, standing over six feet in height. Craniometric analysis indicates this early population was closely related to Late Pleistocene Iberomaurusians and early Holocene Capsians of the Maghreb. Traces of the Kiffian culture disappear after 8,000 years ago when the Sahara entered a dry period for the next thousand years. Later, the Tenerian culture colonized the area around 4600 BCE. Some 200 skeletons have been discovered at Gobero, showing that the Tenerians were considerably shorter and less robust than their predecessors.
An urban civilization called the Garamantes arose around 500 BCE in the Wadi al-Ajal valley of Fezzan, Libya. These people built a prosperous empire in the heart of the desert by digging tunnels far into the mountains flanking the valley to tap fossil water. They brought this water to their fields and grew populous enough to conquer neighbors and capture slaves to work the tunnels. Ancient Greeks and Romans knew of them but regarded them as uncivilized nomads despite trading with them. A Roman bath has been found in the Garamantes' capital of Garama. Archaeologists have identified eight major towns and many other important settlements within their territory. The civilization eventually collapsed after they depleted available water in the aquifers and could no longer sustain the effort to extend the tunnels further into the mountains. Between the first century BCE and the fourth century CE, several Roman expeditions conducted military and commercial operations across the Sahara. The Tichitt Tradition developed sophisticated social structures among herders in 4000 BCE, featuring farming of cereals, metallurgy, and numerous funerary tombs.
European colonialism in the Sahara began in the nineteenth century when France conquered the regency of Algiers from the Ottomans in 1830. French rule spread south from Algeria and eastwards from Senegal into the upper Niger to include present-day Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, and Tunisia. By the beginning of the twentieth century, trans-Saharan trade had clearly declined because goods were moved through more modern means like airplanes rather than across the desert. The French took advantage of long-standing animosity between the Chaamba Arabs and the Tuareg. In 1902, the French penetrated the Hoggar Mountains and defeated Ahaggar Tuareg forces in the battle of Tit. A remarkable film shot by Captain René Wauthier in 1933 documents the first crossing by a large truck convoy from Algiers to Tchad. Most Saharan states achieved independence after World War II, with Libya gaining freedom in 1951 and Algeria following in 1962. Spain withdrew from Western Sahara in 1975, leading to its partition between Mauritania and Morocco.
The people of the Sahara are of various origins including Amazigh groups such as the Tuareg, Arabized Amaziq groups like the Hassaniya-speaking Sahrawis, Toubou, Nubians, Zaghawa, Kanuri, Hausa, Songhai, Beja, and Fula. Arabic dialects are the most widely spoken languages today, alongside Berber variants now grouped under the term Amazigh. Unlike neighboring West Africa, the French language bears little relevance to inter-personal discourse within the region. People retain staunch ethnic and political affiliations with Tuareg and Berber leaders. Archaeological evidence shows that Nilo-Saharan speaking groups had populated the central and southern Sahara before the influx of Berber and Arabic speakers around 1500 years ago. The Haratins are believed to largely descend from native ancient black populations that inhabited the Sahara. Modern scholarship suggests abandoning terms like North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa because they ignore diversity within the regions and stem from older racialist thought. The legacy of colonial administration is primarily manifested in territorial reorganization enacted by the Third and Fourth republics which engendered artificial political divisions within a hitherto isolated region.
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Common questions
What is the total area of the Sahara desert?
The Sahara spans 9.2 million square kilometers across North Africa, making it the largest hot desert on Earth and the third-largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic.
When did the Green Sahara period occur in the Sahara region?
Between 8000 BCE and 6000 BCE more rain fell on the Sahara because low pressure areas existed over collapsing ice sheets to the north. By 4200 BCE however the monsoon retreated south leading to gradual desertification that left the region as dry as it was about 13,000 years ago.
Who were the Kiffian people found at Gobero in the Sahara?
Human remains from the Kiffian culture were discovered in 2000 at a site known as Gobero located in Niger within the Ténéré Desert. The Kiffians lived between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago during the Neolithic Subpluvial when the Sahara was verdant and wet.
How did the Garamantes civilization survive in the Sahara desert?
An urban civilization called the Garamantes arose around 500 BCE in the Wadi al-Ajal valley of Fezzan Libya by digging tunnels far into the mountains flanking the valley to tap fossil water. They brought this water to their fields and grew populous enough to conquer neighbors and capture slaves to work the tunnels until they depleted available water in the aquifers.
When did European colonialism begin in the Sahara region?
European colonialism in the Sahara began in the nineteenth century when France conquered the regency of Algiers from the Ottomans in 1830. Most Saharan states achieved independence after World War II with Libya gaining freedom in 1951 and Algeria following in 1962.