Sahara

American  

[suh-har-uh, -hair-uh, -hahr-uh] / səˈhær ə, -ˈhɛər ə, -ˈhɑr ə /

noun

1. a desert in northern Africa, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Nile valley. About 3,500,000 square miles (9,065,000 square kilometers).

2. any arid waste.

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Sahara British  

/ səˈhɑːrə /

noun

1. a desert in N Africa, extending from the Atlantic to the Red Sea and from the Mediterranean to central Mali, Niger, Chad, and the Sudan: the largest desert in the world, occupying over a quarter of Africa; rises to over 3300 m (11 000 ft) in the central mountain system of the Ahaggar and Tibesti massifs; large reserves of iron ore, oil, and natural gas. Area: 9 100 000 sq km (3 500 000 sq miles). Average annual rainfall: less than 254 mm (10 in.). Highest recorded temperature: 58°C (136.4°F)

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Sahara Cultural  

1. Desert in northern Africa.

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Discover More

At approximately 3.5 million square miles, it is the world's largest desert.

Other Word Forms

• Saharan
  adjective
• Saharian
  adjective
• trans-Sahara
  adjective
• trans-Saharan
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of Sahara

From Arabic ṣaḥra (plural ṣaḥārā ) “desert”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Sahara

Western Sahara, a mineral-rich former Spanish colony, has been largely controlled by Morocco since 1975, but the United Nations considers it a non-self-governing territory.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

Remittances flowed into remote villages where the most reliable way to reinvest the windfall was to send another family member across the Sahara.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Zuma undertook the trip as MK leader but was pictured in front of the South African flag when he met Morocco's foreign minister and brought up Western Sahara.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

This happened in 2021, after Spain allowed a pro-independence leader from Western Sahara to get treatment in a Spanish hospital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Even if Fertile Crescent crops adapted to winter rain could somehow have crossed the Sahara, they would have been difficult to grow in the summer-rain Sahel zone.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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