Geography of North Africa

The Sahara is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi), it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic.

The Mediterranean Sea (MED-ih-tə-RAY-nee-ən) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the west almost by the Morocco–Spain border. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about 2,500,000 km (970,000 sq mi), representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only 14 km (9 mi) wide.

North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of the Western Sahara in the west, to Egypt and Sudan's Red Sea coast in the east.

The Maghreb (Arabic: ْاَلْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, 'the west' ), also known as the Arab Maghreb (Arabic: اَلْمَغْرِبُ الْعَرَبِيُّ, al-Maghrib al-ʿArabi, 'the Arab west') and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb also includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara. As of 2018, the region had a population of over 100 million people.

Tamasna (Berber: Tamesna, ⵜⴰⵎⴻⵙⵏⴰ, Arabic: تامسنا) is a historical region between Bou Regreg and Tensift in Morocco. It includes the modern regions of Chaouia, Doukkala, Abda, Rhamna, Sraghna and Chiadma. The indigenous population is that of Barghwata who were driven by the Almohads who installed the Bedouin Arabs.

The Eastern Mediterranean denotes the countries geographically to the east of the Mediterranean Sea (the Levantine Sea). Its populations share not only geographic position but also cuisine, certain customs and a long, intertwined history.

The Mashriq (Arabic: ْاَلْمَشْرِق, al-Mashriq, 'the east'), also known as the Arab Mashriq (Arabic: اَلْمَشْرِقُ الْعَرَبِيُّ, al-Mashriq al-ʿArabi, 'the Arab east'), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, as opposed to the Maghreb (western) region, and located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. It is the Arabic equivalent for the term Middle East. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the name is derived from the verb sharaqa (َشَرَق, "to shine, illuminate, radiate" and "to rise"), from the sh-r-q root (ش-ر-ق), referring to the east, where the sun rises.

Merzouga (Berber languages: ⵎⵔⵣⵓⴳⴰ, Arabic: مرزوقة) is a small village in southeastern Morocco, about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of Rissani, about 55 km (34 mi) from Erfoud and about 50 km (31 mi) from the Algerian border.

In biogeography, the Mediterranean basin (MED-ih-tə-RAY-nee-ən), also known as the Mediterranean region or sometimes Mediterranea, is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation.

The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Ferries cross between the two continents every day in as little as 35 minutes. The Strait's depth ranges between 300 and 900 metres (980 and 2,950 feet; 160 and 490 fathoms).