The White Desert

The White Desert is the main tourist destination of Farafra oasis. It is located 570 km far from Cairo and covers an area of 3010 square kilometres. It has been classified by Egypt as a natural protected zone in 2002. The White Desert is characterized by strangely shaped chalk pinnacles, mounds and ridges, formed through wind erosion over a period of a million years. They rise out of a flat limestone platform, which is covered by fine sand. The combination of brilliant white chalk, golden sand and bright, pollution-free blue sky makes the White Desert one of the most impressive and fascinating sights in Egypt. The chalk-white landscape is scattered with alien shapes, such as ‘monoliths’, ‘mushrooms’ and ‘ice cream cones’. In the southern part of the desert, several layers of limestone covering the area contain fossils of invertebrates and prehistoric shark teeth (CISS Inventory 2010; Vivian 1990).

Site coordinates: N 27 39 718 E 28 25 761

See the Gallery "Black Desert, Crystal Mountain and White Desert".