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Covering almost 700,000 square kilometers
and two thirds of the Egyptian land area, the Western Desert
lays from the Nile's West to the border with Sudan. This desert
has numerous oases such as: the Al-Bahriyyah oasis and the Al-Farafirah
oasis in the North desert; Munkhafad al-Qattarah (the Qattara
Depression) is situated in the North - West of the Al-Bahriyyah
oasis. This depression has inhabitants and modern cars. The Siwa
oasis is situated in the Qattara Depression's West, close to the
Libyan border. Siwa Oasis is the largest oasis and with the most
populated one, but is not very influenced by modernity. The area
of the Western Desert from the Qattara Depression's South is
made from stony tracts and big ridges made by the blown sand.
The White Desert has a continue territory made from basement
rocks that are covered with layers of sediments. The sediments
are bedded and horizontally and form a low plateau or massive
plains. The exception is represented by the Jilf al Kabir
plateau which has a 1,000 meters altitude. From the Siwa Oasis
to this plateau is the Great Sand Sea. In many parts of this
desert area the basins (deep depressions) and the ridges
(escarpments) are present. No streams drains or rivers can be me
there. But in the Western Desert are also depressions with fresh
water from the Nile as well as natural resources, a small
agricultural production and permanent settlements. One oasis
isolated somehow from Egypt and close to the border with Libyan
is the Siwa Oasis, which was very famous for its Temple of Amun
where Alexander the Great and Herodotus used to come for the
oracles that existed here. Other oases in the Western Desert are
the Al Faiyum Oasis and the Kharijah Oasis, which is the largest
oasis. |
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