Grand Erg Oriental
Grand Erg Oriental
العرق الشرقي الكبير | |
|---|---|
Landscape of the sand dune 'seas' of the Grand Erg Oriental. Other areas are hard pressed gravel. There are also settlements, and oil and gas extraction zones. | |
Major Saharan topography, showing the Grand Erg Oriental in yellow at top center, right. | |
| Country | Algeria and Tunisia |
| Area | |
• Total | 185,000 km2 (71,000 sq mi) |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 620 km (390 mi) |
| • Width | 400 km (250 mi) |
| Elevation | 280 m (920 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 20,000 |
| • Density | 0.11/km2 (0.28/sq mi) |
| (Estimation) | |
The Grand Erg Oriental (English: Great Eastern Sand Sea) is a large erg or "field of sand dunes" in the Sahara Desert. Situated for the most part in Saharan lowlands of northeast Algeria, the Grand Erg Oriental covers an area of some 185,000 sq. km (about the size of North Dakota or twice the size of Portugal). It is the second largest erg in Algeria after Erg Chech. The erg's northeastern edge spills over into neighbouring Tunisia (about 30,000 sq. km) It borders the Atlas and the Aurès Mountains as well as the mountainous region of Jebel Dahar in Tunisia to the north, and the Hamada of Tinrhert and the Tademait Plateau to the south. - Erg is a Tamachek Berber word, and also a geographic term of art.