Question

Describe the people of the Sahara desert and their activities.

Answer 1

Hint: A desert is defined as an arid region where there is high temperatures, low rainfall and sparse vegetation. Sahara Desert also possesses these features where there is scarcity of water. It is about 9.2 million square kilometers.

Complete Answer:
- Sahara Desert is situated in North Africa which is known to be the World’s largest hot desert and touches eleven countries, i.e. Algeria, Morocco, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara. Regarding the climate of desert it possesses scorching hot and parched dry conditions where there is a short rainy season leading to scarcity of water. There are freezing nights with zero degrees Celsius.
- There are different groups of people living in the Sahara desert belonging to different origins such as Bedouins and Tuaregs pursuing different activities. They mainly wear heavy robes in order to protect them from the harsh climate like dust storms and hot winds.
- They are engaged in animal rearing such as sheep, goats, camels and horses for the purpose of milk, hides which are used for making leather such as belts, slippers and water bottles. The hairs of these animals are used for the purpose of making mats, carpets, clothes and blankets. The major commodities grown are rice, wheat, barley and beans.

Note: The Nile valley in Egypt supports the population settled there. Sahara Desert is the third largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic. The word Sahara is derived from an Arabic word for ‘desert’, Sahra with a width of 1800 kilometer and length of 4800 kilometer.