An Overview of the Egyptian Deserts’ Resources

Abstract

Egypt total area found under arid and hyperarid climatic conditions, of which only a small portion (3% of total area) is agriculturally productive. Deserts in Egypt represent about 96% of Egypt’s area. The Egyptian deserts comprise three main geographical units: the Western desert; the eastern desert; and the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian deserts are located in the hyper-arid regions of North Africa and in Asia astride the Sahara and Arabian Desert with annual rainfall in most parts of less than 50 mm. The main habitats in the Egyptian deserts are distinguished to wadies, sand formations, gravel formations, salt marshes and reed swamps. The water resources in the desert are mainly groundwater. Most of the soil texture in the Egyptian desert are sand. The Egyptian flora is a mixture of flora that characterizes three continents: Africa, Asia, Europe, and this related to the geographical location of Egypt between the three continents. The natural resources in the Egyptian deserts subjected to degradation and deterioration mainly by land salinization, water deficiency and wind erosion.KeywordsDesertsEgyptDegradationLand salinizationNatural resourcesGroundwaterHabitatsWater deficiencyVegetationAnimals