The Erg of Bilma is a
dune sea
An erg (also sand sea or dune sea, or sand sheet if it lacks dunes) is a broad, flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative cover. The word is derived from the Arabic language, Arabic word ''ʿarq'' (), meaning ...
(Arabic: ''
erg
The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10−7joules (100 nJ). It originated in the Centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). It has the symbol ''erg''. The erg is not an SI unit. Its name is derived from (), a Greek word meaning 'work' o ...
'') in the
Ténéré
The Ténéré ( Tuareg: Tenere, literally: "desert") is a desert region in the south central Sahara. It comprises a vast plain of sand stretching from northeastern Niger into western Chad, occupying an area of over . The Ténéré's boundaries ...
desert region of the south central
Sahara Desert
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, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
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, location =
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.
The Erg of Bilma stretches southwest from
Fachi
Fachi is an oasis surrounded by the Ténéré desert and the dunes of the Erg of Bilma in eastern Niger, placed on the western edge of the small Agram mountains, Agram mountain outcropping. It has an estimated population of 2,000 people. It is a ...
and the
Tibesti Mountains
The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and i ...
.
On the west it is bounded by the
Aïr Mountains
The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, the ...
in north central
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Bilma
Bilma is an oasis town and commune in north east Niger with, as of the 2012 census, a total population of 4,016 people.
It lies protected from the desert dunes under the Kaouar Cliffs and is the largest town along the Kaouar escarpment. It ...](_blank)
, continuing on to the
Chadian border. It surrounds on three sides the oasis of
Bilma
Bilma is an oasis town and commune in north east Niger with, as of the 2012 census, a total population of 4,016 people.
It lies protected from the desert dunes under the Kaouar Cliffs and is the largest town along the Kaouar escarpment. It ...
, southernmost of a north–south string of oases of the
Kaouar
The Kaouar (or Kawar) is a series of ten oases in the southern Sahara in northeast Niger, covering about from north to south, and east to west. They are on the eastern edge of the Ténéré desert, between the Tibesti Mountains in the east ...
rise. The Erg covers an area of approximately .
At its southernmost edge, some of the dunes have been stabilized by the growth of vegetation, allowing human cultivation of crops like
millet and
sorghum on the slopes.
History
The ancient
Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to:
* Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa
* Borno State
Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while it ...
to
Fezzan
Fezzan ( , ; ber, ⴼⵣⵣⴰⵏ, Fezzan; ar, فزان, Fizzān; la, Phazania) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ...
caravan routes had to cross the dunes of the erg south of Bilma as the last major obstacle before reaching the
sahel. While that traffic largely ceased after 1820, trade though the erg of Bilma continues from the
Lake Chad region and the
Termit Massif
The Termit Massif (Termit Mountains or simply the Termit) is a mountainous region in southeastern Niger. Just to the south of the dunes of Tenere desert and the Erg of Bilma, the northern areas of the Termit, called the Gossololom consists of ...
on a small scale.
[.]
See also
*
List of ergs
In geomorphology, an erg is a large desert region of sand dunes with little or no vegetation,it is divided into 3 parts back erg ,central erg,fore erg, especially in the Sahara.
This is a list of ergs around the world.
Africa
;Algeria
* Grand ...
References
Further reading
*.
External links
*
Prof. Dr. R. Baumhauera
has produced a number of papers on the Geography and Paleogeography of the Erg of Bilma.
Surviving the Sahara: National Geographic, December 2002.
Bilma
Bilma is an oasis town and commune in north east Niger with, as of the 2012 census, a total population of 4,016 people.
It lies protected from the desert dunes under the Kaouar Cliffs and is the largest town along the Kaouar escarpment. It ...
Bilma
Bilma is an oasis town and commune in north east Niger with, as of the 2012 census, a total population of 4,016 people.
It lies protected from the desert dunes under the Kaouar Cliffs and is the largest town along the Kaouar escarpment. It ...
Sahara
{{Niger-geo-stub