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Where is the Sahara Desert located in Africa?
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Sahara
Sand dunes in the Sahara, near Merzouga, Morocco.
The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert, covering nearly all of northern Africa.1
It spans approximately 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from east to west and between 800 and 1,200 miles from north to south. Its geographical boundaries are defined as follows:1
- North: The Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea.1
- West: The Atlantic Ocean.1
- East: The Red Sea.1
- South: The Sahel, a semiarid transitional zone that separates the desert from the humid savannas further south.1