Sahara Desert: Did you mean...?

A map of West Africa from the 1375 CE Catalan Atlas. The map shows the trans-Saharan caravan trade routes between North Africa and the Niger River. (Sheet 6, National Library of France, Paris)

The Battle of Gazala in Libya in May-June 1942 was a decisive victory for German and Italian forces led by General Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) against British, Commonwealth, and Free French forces during the Western Desert Campaigns (Jun 1940...

Operation Compass (9 Dec 1940 to 7 Feb 1941) was an Allied offensive in North Africa, which pushed Italian forces out of Egypt and then Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya). The Allied Western Desert Force, led by Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor...

Timbuktu (Timbuctoo) is a city in Mali, West Africa which was an important trade centre of the Mali Empire which flourished between the 13th and 15th centuries. The city, founded c. 1100, gained wealth from access to and control of the trade...

Artist's impression of camel riders in the desert. The camel was a common mode of transport in Africa and the Middle East during ancient, medieval and early modern times.

The siege of the port of Tobruk in Libya (April to Dec 1941) by Axis forces during the Second World War (1939-45) lasted 242 days and became a symbol of Allied resistance. Besieged by land but still supplied by sea, Tobruk was of vital strategic...

The defence by Free French forces of the remote desert watering hole of Bir Hakeim (Hacheim) in Libya, North Africa in May-June 1942 during the Second World War (1939-45) is one of the most heroic episodes in French military history. Although...

A photograph taken in May 1941 showing a British soldier protecting himself against a sandstorm during the Western Desert Campaigns in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

In ancient times, the First Cataract at Aswan marked the southern frontier of Egypt. Beyond lay the land of Nubia, which stretched along the river Nile from the First Cataract southwards for about 250 kilometres (155 mi). This region, known...

The Second Battle of El Alamein (Oct-Nov 1942) was a major battle in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). The British Eighth Army led by General Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976) won a decisive...