Libyan Desert: description, features, photo

The Libyan desert is on the second place in size among all similar unique natural attractions of the world. Its area is almost 2 million square meters. Km. The height of sand dunes in places reaches 200-500 m. And their extent varies within 650 km. Coordinates of the Libyan Desert: 24 ° N. W. And 25 ° c. E.

Since ancient times the desert has been associated with Ancient Egypt. In the I-II century. N. E. This territory belonged to Libya (the historical region). In the VII century, this area was conquered by the Middle Eastern countries. And as the climate of these places is very suitable for Arabs, they not only quickly mastered this territory, but also partially encroached on the regions of the Berber population.

Climatic features

The climate in the desert is subtropical, semi-desert. In January, the temperature keeps at around +12 ... +18 ^о С. But in July it rises to +27 ... + 36 ^о С. The temperature difference during the day is 15-16 ^о С. Precipitation in the desert can not drop out for years. Sometimes they do fall out, but in small amounts, about 100 mm per year.

Vegetation is practically absent. Very rarely there are grasses or weak shrubs. From the animal kingdom in the Libyan Desert, there are some species of snakes and lizards, camels and gazelles.

Where is the desert of Libya?

The desert is located in the north of the African continent, belongs to the territory of Egypt and Libya. From the west, it borders the El-Haruj-el-Aswad massif, on the south side it is bounded by the Tibesti plateau, and on the eastern side is the Nile valley.

The north of the desert is represented by a lower relief. Here deep depressions are observed up to 133 m below sea level. The south of the desert consists of stony or sandy plateaus, reaching a height of up to 500 m. The longest dune in the world, about 140 km, is recorded in the Libyan Desert.

Population

But despite such a meager plant and animal life, the Libyan desert is inhabited by people. They lead an active lifestyle, engage in economic activities. The national composition is mainly Libyans and Tuaregs. The whole life of people is concentrated in the oases of the desert. Agriculture is the cultivation of date palms, fruit trees, such as peach and apricot. Cereals are also cultivated here. Animal husbandry is no less developed in oases. People are engaged in breeding certain types of goats, camels and sheep.

The desert in its bowels contains very large oil reserves, there is also iron ore.

Oasis in the Libyan Desert

On the territory of the Libyan Desert, there are 6 main oases: Kharga, Dakhla, Bahariya, Farafra, Siwa, Fayum. Siwa is located separately, and the other five are connected by an asphalt road. Oases in the desert are small settlements. Houses are mostly built of clay bricks, which perfectly saves in the daytime heat. These rooms inside remain cool. Oasis residents also build 2-3-storey more modern buildings from concrete blocks. Households are led by women, men engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. Getting to the oases is now easy, you can rent a car or use public transport.

If we consider separately the oases of the Libyan desert, then Bahariya and Farafra are desolate villages. People here live by growing crops. Dahla and Kharga are modern cities, quite developed. Fayoum is an oasis for rest of the inhabitants of Cairo. There are a lot of ancient ruins, which are of historical value.

Siwa Oasis is located in a remote desert area. The local population is Berbers. They cultivate olive trees and date palms. Most recently in Siwa it was almost impossible to get in because of the lack of communication routes. But today there is a good asphalt road. Here are palm groves, there are salt lakes.

Naturally, all the main water sources are located in that part of such a beautiful place as the Libyan desert, where the oases are located. No settlement can exist in such a hot climate without water.

Unique places

In the Libyan desert, in addition to oases, there are very interesting places. The lowest point of the African continent is the depression of Kattar. And also impressive is the huge expanse of sand dunes - the Great Sand Sea.

The Libyan desert is still one of those places on the planet that has been very poorly studied. That is why it is of great interest to scientists around the world.