Sahara
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[[fr:D�sert du Sahara]]
The Sahara is the world's largest desert, located in northern Africa. Its name is derived from the Arabic Sahhra, meaning desert.
The Sahara divides the continent into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. These two regions are culturally and climatically distinct. The southern border of the Sahara is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies the lusher Sudan.
During the last Ice Age, the Sahara was a much wetter place than it is today. Petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles survive. Fossils of dinosaurs have also been found here. The modern Sahara, though, is generally devoid of vegetation, except in the Nile Valley and at a few oases and in some scattered mountain ranges.
See also
- Sahara Desert (ecoregion) (PA1327) - ecoregion
External links
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Sahara" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara December 16, 2003
