It’s another Fun Fact Friday!! Today’s fun fact? Only 25% of the Sahara Desert is covered in sand!
When you picture the Sahara Desert, you might imagine endless rolling dunes of golden sand stretching as far as the eye can see. But here’s a surprise: only about 25% of the Sahara is actually covered in sand! The rest is made up of rocky plateaus, gravel plains, and salt flats. Those iconic sandy areas — called ergs — may be famous, but they are far from the whole story.
Spanning across North Africa, the Sahara covers a massive 3.6 million square miles — that’s 31% of the entire African continent and roughly the size of the United States or the whole of Europe. It holds the title of the largest hot desert on Earth, and ranks third overall behind the icy deserts of Antarctica and the Arctic.
With skies that are usually crystal clear, the Sahara is also one of the sunniest places on the planet. Most of the region enjoys more than 3,600 hours of sunshine per year, with some areas exceeding an incredible 4,000 hours! It’s also blisteringly hot: one remote location in Algeria recorded a sweltering 116.6°F — a temperature that rivals even Death Valley.
Despite the extreme climate, the Sahara is far from lifeless. Millions of people call the desert home, many living in communities near precious water sources like oases, while others maintain nomadic traditions. Countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, and Morocco host most of the desert’s population. The Sahara also shelters a surprising range of wildlife — from dromedary camels and gazelles to cheetahs, foxes, and even crocodiles in rare wet pockets! Reptiles thrive here too, including numerous snakes and lizards adapted to the heat.
Water may be scarce, but it does exist: the Sahara features two permanent rivers — the Nile and the Niger — along with at least 20 seasonal lakes. Lake Chad stands out as the only freshwater lake in the desert. Massive underground aquifers support more than 90 oases across the region, sustaining both people and wildlife.
Interestingly, the Sahara hasn’t always been a dry wasteland. Over hundreds of thousands of years, it has shifted between arid desert and lush savanna in a recurring 20,000-year cycle. Archaeological evidence — including prehistoric rock art and pottery fragments — shows that around 7,000 years ago, people lived in a green Sahara, herding animals and farming where sand now dominates.
Modern science reveals another twist: the Sahara is still expanding. Studies show the desert has grown by nearly 10% since 1920, driven by natural climate patterns but also human-caused climate change, which is pushing its boundaries outward more and more each year.
And while the Sahara’s history is fascinating, it’s also a pop-culture star! Its dramatic landscapes have appeared on the big screen — most famously serving as Tatooine in the Star Wars films, with Tunisia’s desert standing in for the iconic sand-swept home of Luke Skywalker.