The Western Desert covers two-thirds of the land area of Egypt and occupies one of the driest regions of the Sahara. Seven depressions in Egypt within the desert – Siwa, Qattara, Fayum, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga – may represent parts of old drainage systems with deflation, extensive erosion, and possibly some tectonic activity. Oases with freshwater exist in these depressions. Geological and geophysical investigations in the Qattara Depression indicate the presence of buried fluvial channels with southeast-to-northwest flow directions from the highland areas. The origin of these fluvial systems and the source of the depressions are still unresolved, and many ideas have been suggested. Moghra Lake at the northeastern tip of the Qattara basin may be a remnant of a larger paleolake, including the mouth of a paleo-river.
List of Depressions in Egypt
Egypt has seven depressions within the desert: Siwa, Qattara, Fayum, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga. All of the seven depressions in Egypt are oases except for Qattara.
Qattara Depression
The Qattara Depression is in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The Depression is part of the Western Desert of Egypt. The Qattara Depression lies below sea level, and its bottom is covered with salt pans, dunes, and marshes. The Depression extends between the latitudes of 28°35′ and 30°25′ north and the longitudes of 26°20′ and 29°02′ east.
The Qattara Depression was created by salt weathering and wind erosion. Some 20 kilometres (10 mi) west of the Depression lies the oases of Siwa in Egypt and Jaghbub in Libya in smaller but similar depressions.
The Qattara Depression contains the second-lowest point in Africa at an elevation of 133 metres (436 ft) below sea level, the lowest point being Lake Assal in Djibouti. The Depression covers about 19,605 square kilometres (7,570 sq mi), comparable to Lake Ontario or twice as large as Lebanon. Due to its size and proximity to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, studies have been made on the potential to generate hydroelectricity here.
Siwa Oasis
The Siwa Oasis is an urban oasis in Egypt between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert, 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan border and 560 km (348 mi) from Cairo. About 80 km (50 mi) in length and 20 km (12 mi) wide, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt’s most isolated settlements, with about 33,000 people. Mostly, they are Berbers, who developed a unique and remote desert culture and a language called Siwi; they are also fluent in the Egyptian dialect of Arabi, “Masry”, meaning Egyptian.
Its fame derives primarily from its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Amun, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction that gave the oasis its ancient name, the Oasis of Amun Ra.
Faiyum Oasis
The Faiyum Oasis is a depression or basin in the desert immediately west of the Nile south of Cairo in Egypt. The extent of the basin area is estimated at between 1,270 km2 (490 mi2) and 1,700 km2 (656 mi2). The basin floor comprises fields watered by a channel of the Nile, the Bahr Yussef, as it drains into a desert hollow to the west of the Nile Valley. The Bahr Yussef veers west through a narrow neck of land north of Ihnasya, between the archaeological sites of El Lahun and Gurob near Hawara; it then branches out, providing rich agricultural land in the Faiyum basin, draining into the large saltwater Lake Moeris (Birket Qarun). The lake was freshwater in prehistory but is a saltwater lake today. It is a source of tilapia and other fish for the local area.
Unlike typical oases, whose fertility depends on water obtained from springs, the cultivated land in the Faiyum is formed of Nile mud brought down by the Bahr Yussef, which is 24 km (15 miles) in length. Between the beginning of Bahr Yussef at El Lahun and its end at Faiyum, several canals branch off to irrigate the Faiyum Governorate. The drainage water flows into Lake Moeris.
Bahariya Oasis
El-Wahat El-Bahariya, or el-Bahariya, is a depression and a naturally rich oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is approximately 370 km away from Cairo. The roughly oval valley extends from northeast to southwest, has a length of 94 km, a maximum width of 42 km, and covers an area of about 2000 km².
Mountains surround the valley and have numerous springs. The main economic sectors in Giza Governorate are agriculture, iron ore mining, and tourism. The main agricultural products are guavas, mangos, dates, and olives.
Farafra Oasis
The Farafra Depression is a 980 km2 (380 sq mi) geological Depression, the second biggest by size in Western Egypt and the smallest by population. Farafra Oasis has an estimated 5,000 inhabitants (2002), mainly living in the town of Farafra and is primarily inhabited by the local Bedouins. Parts of the town have complete quarters of traditional architecture, simple, smooth, unadorned, all in mud colour — local culture and conventional methods of building and carrying out repairs have been supported by its tourism. Often grouped within Farafra are the hot springs at Bir Sitta (the sixth well) and the El-Mufid lake.
Dakhla Oasis
Dakhla Oasis, which translates to the inner oasis, is one of the seven oases of Egypt’s Western Desert. Dakhla Oasis is situated inside a depression like the other Egyptian oases in the Western Desert. Dakhla was the capital of the oasis region during the Pharaonic period. Today, El Dakhla is one of the most beautiful oases in Egypt, with many remarkable monuments, amazing natural scenery, and an extensive collection of Bedouin handcrafted souvenirs sold around the towns of Dakhla Oasis.
