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In this Landsat 5 satellite image, what look like pale yellow paint streaks slashing through a mosaic of mottled colors are ridges of wind-blown sand that make up Erg Iguidi, an area of ever-shifting sand dunes extending from Algeria into Mauritania in northwestern Africa.
Algeria is the second largest country in Africa and the 10th largest country in the world. Covering such an immense stretch of landscape, Algeria also is a country of diversity. It extends from the Mediterranean coastline to the sandy dunes of the Sahara Desert. The Sahara covers more than 80 percent of Algeria’s land area to the south of the Saharan Atlas mountain range. An area of extremes, the Sahara Desert presents a wide range of stunning scenery.
Image courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey/NASA.
