The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert. At over 3,6 million square miles, it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the  Atlantic Ocean where its western boundaries can be found in Morocco. Its name comes from the Arabic word for desert: "ṣaḥrā´."

The Sahara has two types of desert, one rocky with scrub, similar to the desert of Southern California and a second of hugh sand dunes that can be as high as 1100 feet.  Within the desert, one finds oases  often with small villages.

Also within the Sahara, one finds “Kasbahs.”  A kasbah is a type of medina, Islamic city, or fortress.  It was a place for the local leader to live and as a defense when the city was under attack. A kasbah has high walls which usually have no windows. Sometimes, they were built on the top of hill to make them easier to defend. Some of them were also placed near the entrance of harbors.  Having a kasbah built was a sign of wealth of some families in the city. Almost all cities had their kasbah, this building being something necessary for the city to survive.