Sahara skirts the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt

To the north, the Sahara skirts the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt and portions of Libya, but in Cyrenaica and the Maghreb, the Sahara borders the Mediterranean forest, woodland, and scrub eco-regions of northern Africa, all of which have a Mediterranean

climate characterized by hot summers and cool and rainy winters. According to the botanical criteria of Frank White[11] and geographer Robert Capot-Rey,[12][13] the northern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the northern limit of date palm cu

ltivation and the southern limit of the range of esparto, a grass typical of the Mediterranean climate portion of the Maghreb and Iberia. The northern limit also corresponds to the 100 mm (3.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation.[14]

An oasis in the Ahaggar Mountains. Oases support some life forms in extremely arid deserts.
To the south, the Sahara is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of dry tropical savanna with a summer rainy season that extends across A

frica from east to west. The southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha (a drought-tolerant member of the Chenopodiaceae), or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel.[12][13] According to climatic criteria, the southern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the 150 mm (5.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation (this is a long-term average, since precipitation varies annually).[14]

Important cities located in the Sahara include Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania; Tamanrasset, Ouargl