Geography of the Sahara & Sahel
Q: Name ten countries that the Sahara and Sahel regions cover, as shown on the map in the text.
A: What are any ten of the following:
Algeria
Libya
Egypt
Mali
Niger
Chad
Sudan
Mauritania
Morocco
Tunisia
Western Sahara (territory)
Q: What is the name for the huge sand seas that cover 20% of the Sahara? Spell it.
A: What are ergs? E-r-g-s.
Q: What nomadic group is known as the “Blue Men of the Desert”? Spell it.
A: Who are the Tuareg? T-u-a-r-e-g.
Q: Why is access to shade at an oasis just as important for survival as access to water, even though the Sahara’s main environmental challenge is drought?
A: What is because shade reduces heat stress and prevents water loss from people, animals, and crops, making the limited water supply last longer?
Q: Land that is hard to farm and not very productive is called this.
A: What is marginal land?
Q: The Sahara stretches across about how many square miles?
A: What is about 3.5 million square miles?
Q: Daily temperatures in the Sahara can swing by how many degrees Fahrenheit?
A: What is up to 90 degrees?
Q: What do Tuareg people use to protect themselves from blowing sand? Specifically name it and spell it.
A: What are long, loose clothing and head wraps? Tagelmust. T-a-g-e-l-m-u-s-t.
Q: What creates many natural oases—water bubbles up from where?
"what is the scientific word for an underground river?"
A: What is from underground aquifers?
Q: People who move from place to place with their animals.
A: Who are pastoral nomads?
Q: What landform marks the northern boundary of the Sahel (in Morocco)?
A: What are the Atlas Mountains?
Q: What strong winds can blow sand and dust across the region?
A: What are harmattan winds?
Q: Why do nomadic herders travel from place to place?
A: What is to find fresh pasture and water for their herds?
Q: What crop from oasis farms is the most important cash crop?
A: What are date palms?
Q: This landform type covers much of the Sahara and consists of vast plains of gravel, not sand — a fact that surprises many people who imagine the desert as mostly dunes.
A: What are regs?
Q: What is the name of the lake in the Sahel region that is shrinking over time?
A: What is Lake Chad?
Q: Why do camel caravans in the Sahara often travel in very large groups instead of traveling alone or in small groups?
A: What is because traveling in large caravans provides safety, helps protect against bandits, and allows people to share resources on long desert journeys?
Q: Why has long-distance desert travel become more difficult for nomads in recent decades? 3 reasons.
A: What are modern national borders, drought, and expanding desertification that limit their movement?
Q: In the Sahel, why do farmers often grow drought-resistant crops like millet and sorghum?
millet = le mil; sorghum = le sorgho
A: What is because these crops survive with very little rainfall?
Q: These powerful global air currents blow from east to west near the Equator. They help shape Sahara climate patterns and historically guided travel across North Africa.
A: What are the trade winds?
Q: According to the map, what 3 major bodies of water border the Sahara region and help define its location?
A: What are the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea?
According to the text, why can wadis be dangerous during rare desert storms.
A: What is because sudden rainfall can cause flash floods that rush through the dry riverbeds, turning them from empty channels into fast-moving, dangerous torrents?
Q: How have droughts changed the relationship between Tuareg nomads and sedentary (=nonmoving) communities in the Sahel?
A: What is that drought has forced nomads to depend more on towns for food and water, weakening their traditional independence?
Q: What are three human causes of desertification in the Sahel?
A: What is overgrazing, deforestation, or overfarming?
What does "Sahel" mean in Arabic?
What is "border" or "shore"?