The Sahara is the largest desert in the world. Sahara actually means “desert” in Arabic. It stretches about 3,000 miles across the continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and also runs 1,200 miles from north to south. Temperatures can rise as high as 136.4°F in the summer, hot enough to fry an egg on the sand. But temperatures can also fall below freezing at night in winter.
Only about 20 percent of the Sahara consists of sand. Towering mountains, rock formations, and gravelly plains make up the rest. For instance, the Tibesti Mountains, located mostly in northwestern Chad, rise to heights of more than 11,000 feet. Other African deserts include the Kalahari and the Namib.