How Large An Area Is The Sahara Desert?

The Sahara Desert covers the entire Northern as well as a significant part of the Central regions of the African continent extending from the Red Sea to the East to the Atlantic to the West; the total area covered by the desert is more than 9,000,000 sq km (3,500,000 sq miles).

The desert is the largest on Earth and is almost as large as the entire United States; the Sahara falls in the territories of 11 countries namely Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan. The Sahara is bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea while to the south west lies the valley of the Niger River and to the south east lies the basin of the Congo River.

The desert divides the continent in to the North or Saharan Africa and Sub Saharan Africa which is home to one of the largest rainforest systems on Earth. Much of the desert is sparsely populated with people living in the various oases and cities like Cairo (Egypt), Timbuktu (Mali), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Agadez (Niger), Ghat (Libya) and Faya (Chad).    

The Sahara Desert consest of Egypt, Libya, Tunisid, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan.