Great Sand Sea

{{Infobox settlement | name = Great Sand Sea | native_name = بحر الرمال العظيم | native_name_lang =ar | settlement_type = [[Desert]] | image_skyline = SiwaSandDunes.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption =The dunes of the Great Sand Sea near [[Siwa Oasis|Siwa]], Egypt | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map =Saharan topographic elements map.png | map_alt = | map_caption =Map of the topographic features of the Sahara | pushpin_map = Egypt | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = |pushpin_relief=y | coordinates = {{coord|26|54|0|N| 26|2|0|E}} | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[Egypt]] and [[Libya]] | subdivision_type1 = | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 =   | area_footnotes = | area_urban_footnotes =  | area_rural_footnotes =  | area_metro_footnotes =  | area_magnitude =  | area_note = | area_water_percent = | area_rank = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank2_title =  | area_total_km2 = 72000 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_km2 = | area_rural_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank2_km2 =  | area_total_ha = | area_land_ha = | area_water_ha = | area_urban_ha = | area_rural_ha = | area_metro_ha = | area_blank1_ha = | area_blank2_ha = | length_km = | width_km = | dimensions_footnotes = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 100 | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website =  | footnotes = }} [[File:SilicaGlassArea.jpg|thumb|245px|Stony area of the Great Sand Sea.]] [[File:Linear Dunes, Great Sand Sea, Egypt - NASA Earth Observatory.jpg|thumb|245px|Dune pattern in the Great Sand Sea, Egypt. [[NASA Earth Observatory]].]] The '''Great Sand Sea''' is an approximately {{cvt|72000|km2|mi2}} [[erg (landform)|sand desert (erg)]] in the [[Sahara]] that stretches from western [[Egypt]] to eastern [[Libya]], in [[North Africa]]. Most of the area is covered by sand [[dune]]s.<ref name=Besler/>

==Geography== The Great Sand Sea stretches about {{cvt|650|km|mi}} from north to south and {{cvt|300|km|mi}} from east to west. On satellite images, this desert shows a pattern of long sand ridges running in a roughly north-south direction. However, despite the apparent uniformity, the Great Sand Sea has two large areas with different types of megadunes.<ref name=Besler>Besler, Helga (2008) ''The Great Sand Sea in Egypt: Formation, Dynamics and Environmental Change: A Sediment-Analytical Approach'' Elsevier, Amsterdam, [https://books.google.com/books?id=N25fU_qdrv8C&pg=PA1 page 1 - 3], {{ISBN|978-0-444-52941-1}}</ref> The Egyptian sand sea lies parallel to the [[Calanshio Sand Sea]] of [[Libya]], with which it is contiguous in the north. The [[dune]]s of the Great Sand Sea cover about 10% of the total area of the Egyptian [[Western Desert (Egypt)|Western Desert]].

[[Siwa Oasis|Siwa]] is an [[oasis]] located in Egypt, about {{cvt|50|km|mi|sigfig=1}} east of the Libyan [[Egypt–Libya border|border]], in the eastern part of the Great Sand Sea or Egyptian Sand Sea.

Although well-known to the [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]] and traders who traveled with [[Caravan (travellers)|caravan]]s across the [[Sahara]], [[Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs]] was the first European to document the Great Sand Sea. He began his Saharan expeditions in 1865, and named the great expanse of dunes the ''Große Sandmeer'' (Great Sand Sea), but it was not until 1924 with the maps of Egyptian courtier [[Ahmed Hassanein]] that the full scope of the Great Sand Sea was appreciated by Europeans.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

==In popular culture== * In the 2017 Ubisoft game ''[[Assassin's Creed Origins]]'', the Great Sand Sea is featured as one of the [[Nome (Egypt)|nomes]], or regions.

==See also==

* {{annotated link|Libyan desert glass|Great Sand Sea Glass}} * {{annotated link|Libyan Desert}} * {{annotated link|Sahara}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commonscat inline}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223650/http://www.egypt.travel/attraction/index/safari-into-the-great-sand-sea Egypt Travel - The Great Sand Sea] *[https://books.google.com/books?id=WOcUNbRUGtwC&pg=PA403 Desert Geomorphology] *[http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/africa/egypt/western-desert-oases/great-sand-sea/ The Great Sand Sea - Rough Guides] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203211629/http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/africa/egypt/western-desert-oases/great-sand-sea/ |date=2016-02-03 }}

{{coord|29|30|N|21|45|E|display=title|region:MR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki}}

[[Category:Deserts of Egypt]] [[Category:Deserts of Libya]] [[Category:Dunes of Egypt]] [[Category:Ergs of Africa]] [[Category:Western Desert (Egypt)]]