Deserts located in Africa. Deserts of Africa: Sahara, Namib, Kalahari

Namib, Sahara and Kalahari are the most popular deserts located in Africa. On these lands we will make a voyage today.

Desert of South Africa

Namib, Sahara and Kalahari represent a complex of three deserts that are located in the southern part of the country. The African people are not only proud of them, but from year to year they take visitors from different corners of the world to their native places. For them, in turn, the deserts located in Africa are attractive and serve as a source of the unknown.

What does the word "desert" mean?

Already from the first sound it becomes clear that its designation can be treated as something empty, deserted. Indeed, it is. But if to be completely accurate and characterize this phenomenon from a scientific point of view, then the desert is a territory with a predominantly flat surface and a complete (or partial) absence of fauna and flora.

Mysterious Africa

But the answer to the next question from time to time interests many geography fans and just curious people. How many sand deserts are there in Africa?

According to various sources, the answer to the question is only two points and includes the Namib and Sahara deserts. While Kalahari refers to the type of stony-clay desert.

Deserts of Africa: Sahara, Namib, Kalahari

Most likely, in the world there are no people who at least once did not hear about the existence of these truly amazing places. And even more so, few will argue with the assertion that the deserts of South Africa are an amazingly beautiful nature. The first of these - the Sahara desert - is the largest and majestic in the whole world.

Sahara

Many know that the deserts located in Africa, for the most part are made up of sand. Sahara was not an exception. It is a quarter full of hot sands. But it was not always so. Once upon a time, about 10 to 2 thousand years ago, abundant waters flowed in its place. Yes, it is difficult to believe in this. But it really is. In those days, now the arid desert was a steppe - a savannah, in which the everyday life proceeded. Confirmation of this and other facts is the opinion of scientists, one of which is Leo Frobenius. In 1933, he discovered rock drawings on the territory of the Sahara with images of various animals: lions, bulls, ostriches, elephants, goats, antelopes, rhinoceroses and hippos.

Currently, the desert area occupies almost the entire northern part of Africa and is more than nine million square meters. The Sahara desert extends widely in Africa. Animals, plants in it though have been preserved, but gradually continue their extinction.

Part of the desert is the state, which includes all the famous Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Egypt, Chad, Niger and Sudan. And more than eighty percent of it is covered with plains that sometimes reach a height of 500 meters above sea level.

The north-eastern part of the Sahara is strewn with depressions (Kattara, El-Fuim and others).

Its central part consists of mountain massifs. The most famous among them are Tibesti and Ahaggar.

Sahara is a source of oil, iron ore, phosphorites and natural gas.

Its climate, no doubt, refers to the tropical desert, because very rarely in the desert falls rain more than 50 millimeters per month, and the air temperature in the middle of January never falls below the mark of 10 degrees.

Namib

It is located in the south-west side of Africa, and its length is more than one and a half thousand kilometers. If its predecessor is the most majestic of the deserts in the world, then Namib serves as the oldest of the whole family. Its age fluctuates in the region of at least 60-80 million years. Her review is unique. On its territory you can find canyons of dry rivers, weathered rocks, majestic dunes and many other wonderful pictures.

Despite the fact that a year in the desert rarely drops more than one millimeter of precipitation, it remains day by day filled with vital energy. This is confirmed by numerous representatives of the fauna. These are antelopes and gazelles, elephants and rhinoceroses, ostriches and giraffes. Moreover, each of them can be photographed and personally convinced of their unsurpassed grandeur and beauty.

The vegetation side of the desert is in no way inferior to the animal side. In Namibia, an amazing rose, both in appearance and in name, rose in the desert, located in Africa, ancient specimens of which reach an age mark of up to two millennia.

Of course, one can not ignore the most famous landmark of Namibia, its Naukljut National Park. There are countless landscapes on its territory.

The local climate is very dry, and the daily temperature jumps can reach 40 degrees.

Kalahari

It is considered the largest among the African deserts in the southern part of the country. Its area is about 600 thousand square kilometers.

The climate in the territory is dry and tropical with the maximum amount of precipitation in the summer and a mild enough winter.

Kalahari is quite a distant point from the central part of the country, but at the same time it is no less popular place for the inexhaustible tourist flow. After all, the emotions experienced by the wandering people in their attempts to master it are worth the kilometers traveled.

Visit the desert is, although for the sake of the extraordinary beauty of the sunset, the scarlet color of which gradually turns into a reddish shade of grape berries against the backdrop of snow-white sand.

Desert animals are as majestic as she is herself. Lions and cheetahs, antelopes and hyenas - they can be seen in the Kalahari.

Regardless of the circumstances that seemingly determine the complete absence of the plant world in the desert, it is relatively rich. The most common species include various herbs, shrubs and acacia.

Desert Africa

This is one of the greatest places on earth, and to visit it stands without the slightest bit of doubt at every opportunity that goes far not to everyone.

Do not take these places as something terrible. Remember that most of these associations arose as a result of viewing fantastic and adventure films, and suddenly you will find that there is really nothing to be afraid of.

And a couple of words

Africa: hot deserts, endless savannah ... What can be more beautiful for a freshly baked or experienced tourist? Perhaps nothing. And it's not for nothing that they say that to visit this country and not to see at least one desert is like not looking at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In other words, absolutely meaningless!