The Deserts of Africa - Unimaginable Beauty, Africa Safaris (2024)

FAQs

What are the 3 most important deserts in Africa? ›

Africa - the second largest continent in the world is also home to the largest desert in the world - the Sahara. In fact there are three deserts on the continent - The Sahara, the Namib and the Kalahari.

Most part of Africa is not desert. The notable desert is Sahara desert which takes 25% of the continent and Namib and Kalahari to the south. Most central and western Africa have equitorial climate which mostly consist of equitorial rain forests.

The Nine African Deserts

Africa is home to 8 more stunning deserts, including the Sahara Desert, Kalahari Desert, Karoo Desert, Danakil Desert, Chalbi Desert, Namib Desert, and Guban Desert.

The Sahara is the hottest desert in the world – with one of the harshest climates. The average annual temperature is 30°C, whilst the hottest temperature ever recorded was 58°C. The area receives little rainfall, in fact, half of the Sahara Desert receives less than 1 inch of rain every year.

One would think with the direct sunshine Uganda would be a hot country with burning temperatures, but the suitably tagged “Pearl of Africa” enjoys some of the most pleasant temperatures throughout the year, the average temperature being about 27^oC (81^oF) during the day and dropping to about 23^oC (73^oF) in the night.

Snowfall is not uncommon in some Southern African countries. Johannesburg, a major city in Gauteng province situated in Southeastern Africa, has experienced intermittent snowfall over the years. Meanwhile, the Drakensberg Mountain range in South Africa receives enough snow for skiing during winter.

The largest country in Africa, Algeria is covered more than 90% by the Sahara desert. Major oil and natural gas deposits lie beneath the Sahara, contributing to Algeria's position as one of the wealthiest African nations.

Shifts in Earth's axis increased temperatures and decreased precipitation, which caused an abrupt beginning of North Africa desertification about 5,400 years ago.

The most widely spoken languages of Africa, Swahili (200 million), Yoruba (45 million), Igbo (30 million), and Fula (35 million) all belong to the Niger-Congo family. Learn more about the Niger-Congo language family on Ethnologue.

What is the largest hot desert in the world? ›

Sahara Desert

The Sahara is the largest hot desert and the third-largest desert in the world, spanning 3.5 million square miles (9.1 million square kilometers) of arid, wind-swept landscapes.

The Sahara Desert is apparently green with vegetation—about every 21,000 years or so. But despite its rarity, this periodic “greening” of the Sahara still provides plenty of opportunities for a truly different perspective on the desert.

As the dry desert landscape cools and heats during the day and night, the rock expands and cracks. Over thousands or millions of years, aided by wind whipping at the smaller stones, the rocks are ground down into sand. Dig down and you will find the bedrock again, and dried-out clay.

In around 2500 BCE, the monsoon retreated south and caused the Sahara to become a desert. For the past 13,000 years, the Sahara desert has remained at the same dryness. Approximately every 20,000 years, the Sahara transforms into a savannah covered with lush grasses due to the angle of the Earth's axis changing.

The four main types of desert include hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts. In hot and dry deserts, also known as arid deserts, the temperatures are warm and dry year-round.

South Africa has three deserts: the Namib Desert, the Kalahari Desert, and the Karoo Desert.