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51-1022: Administratively the Western Desert is divided between various governorates; in the north and west, the Matrouh Governorate administers the area from the Mediterranean south to approx 27°40' N latitude, and the New Valley Governorate from there to the Sudan border, while in the east parts of the Western Desert lie in the Giza , Fayyum , Beni Suef , and Minya Governorates . The region is described by one writer as "a plateau standing on average some 500 feet [150 m] above sea level, barren, rubble- and boulder-strewn, dark brown in colour, occasionally dotted with scrub, and, at first sight, flat". He also states that little of

102-527: A few hundred metres to the south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred metres farther south-west. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre . Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. The Great Sphinx of Giza

153-635: A meteorite strike at Kebira , over the border in Libya. The Great Sand Sea is a roughly lung-shaped area of sandy desert lying astride the border with Libya, 320 km (200 mi) inland from the Mediterranean. The sea is divided by a long peninsula of rocky desert along the border, leaving the eastern lobe in Egypt and the western in Libya, where it is called the Calanshio desert. On the Egyptian side it

204-553: A river was already there, though not necessarily on exactly the same course. Then, subterranean geological forces caused the land in that part of North America to gradually rise by about a centimeter per year for millions of years. An unusual balance occurred: the river that would become the Colorado River was able to erode into the crust of the Earth at a nearly equal rate to the uplift of the plateau. Now, millions of years later,

255-513: A small flat top while others have wider ones. Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, plate tectonics movements, and erosion by water and glaciers. Volcanic plateaus are produced by volcanic activity . The Columbia Plateau in the north-western United States is an example. They may be formed by upwelling of volcanic magma or extrusion of lava. The underlining mechanism in forming plateaus from upwelling starts when magma rises from

306-650: A total of 15 nations) until the Allied victory in November 1942. In modern times the Egyptian government has encouraged settlements in the oases, and surveyed for minerals, particularly oil. In October 2020, President Abdul Fattah el-Sis i ordered the revival of an ambitious decades old agricultural project once named the Toshka Project (aka the New Valley Project), aimed at creating a new delta in

357-730: Is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx , a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre. The original shape of the Sphinx was cut from the bedrock , and has since been restored with layers of limestone blocks . It measures 73 m (240 ft) long from paw to tail, 20 m (66 ft) high from

408-524: Is a desert in the Sahara between western Egypt and eastern Libya in North Africa , 74% of the area is covered by sand dunes. The Great Sand Sea stretches about 650 km (400 mi) from north to south and 300 km (190 mi) from east to west. On satellite images this desert shows a pattern of long sand ridges running in a roughly north–south direction. However, despite the apparent uniformity

459-622: Is divided into three main flat regions: the Bogotá savanna , the valleys of Ubaté and Chiquinquirá , and the valleys of Duitama and Sogamoso . The parallel Sierra of Andes delimit one of the world highest plateaux: the Altiplano , (Spanish for "high plain"), Andean Plateau or Bolivian Plateau. It lies in west-central South America, where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet. The bulk of

510-545: Is one of the governorates of Egypt . Located in the north-western part of the country, it borders Libya . Its capital is Mersa Matruh . The governorate is divided into municipal divisions with a total estimated population as of January 2023 of 538,546. The interior of the Matrouh Governorate is part of Egypt's Western Desert , including the Siwa Oasis , in antiquity known for its shrine to Amun . In

561-416: Is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides have deep hills or escarpments . Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma , extrusion of lava , and erosion by water and glaciers . Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment as intermontane, piedmont, or continental. A few plateaus may have

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612-710: Is sometimes called the Roof of Africa due to its height and large area. Another example is the Highveld which is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above approximately 1,500 metres, but below 2,100 metres, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions. It is home to some of the largest South African urban agglomerations . In Egypt are the Giza Plateau and Galala Mountain , which

663-545: Is the Scottish Highlands . Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment. The highest African plateau is the Ethiopian Highlands which cover the central part of Ethiopia. It forms the largest continuous area of its altitude in the continent, with little of its surface falling below 1,500 metres (4,921 ft), while the summits reach heights of up to 4,550 metres (14,928 ft). It

714-572: Is the home of more than 70 million people. The Western Plateau , part of the Australian Shield , is an ancient craton covering much of the continent's southwest, an area of some 700,000 square kilometres. It has an average elevation between 305 and 460 metres. The North Island Volcanic Plateau is an area of high land occupying much of the centre of the North Island of New Zealand, with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes,

765-741: Is the site of large white chalk rock formations, created through erosion by wind and sand. It is also the site of cliffs (at the northern end of the Farafra Depression), sand dunes (part of the Great Sand Sea), as well as Wadi Hennis and oases at Ain El Maqfi and Ain El Wadi . The park serves as the refuge for various animals, including the endangered Rhim gazelle and the vulnerable Dorcas gazelle , as well as Barbary sheep ; jackals ; Rüppell's , red and fennec foxes; and

816-895: The Deccan Plateau (≈1,900,000 km (730,000 sq mi), elevation 300–600 metres (980–1,970 ft)). A large plateau in North America is the Colorado Plateau , which covers about 337,000 km (130,000 sq mi) in Colorado , Arizona , New Mexico , and Utah . In northern Arizona and southern Utah the Colorado Plateau is bisected by the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon . This came to be over 10 million years ago,

867-586: The Deccan Plateau in India and the Meseta Central on the Iberian Peninsula . Plateaus can also be formed by the erosional processes of glaciers on mountain ranges, leaving them sitting between the mountain ranges. Water can also erode mountains and other landforms down into plateaus. Dissected plateaus are highly eroded plateaus cut by rivers and broken by deep narrow valleys. An example

918-673: The Great Sphinx , several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex. The Giza pyramid complex (مجمع أهرامات الجيزة), also called the Giza necropolis and also known as the Pyramids of Giza or Egypt , is the site on the Giza Plateau in Giza and Greater Cairo , Egypt that includes the Great Pyramid of Giza , the Pyramid of Khafre , and the Pyramid of Menkaure , along with their associated pyramid complexes and

969-596: The Great Sphinx of Giza . All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt , between 2600 and 2500 BC. The site also includes several cemeteries and the remains of a workers' village. The Giza pyramid complex consists of the Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed c. 2580 – c. 2560 BC), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren)

1020-657: The White Desert , an area of wind-sculpted chalk rock formations, which give the area its name. To the south of Kharga the plateau rises towards the Gilf Kebir, an upland region lying astride the Egypt-Sudan border and home to pre-historic sites such as the Cave of Swimmers . In the south-west, near the point where the borders of Libya, Sudan and Egypt meet, is an area of desert glass , thought to have been formed by

1071-408: The mantle , causing the ground to swell upward. In this way, large, flat areas of rock are uplifted to form a plateau. For plateaus formed by extrusion, the rock is built up from lava spreading outward from cracks and weak areas in the crust. Tectonic plateaus are formed by tectonic plate movements which cause uplift, and are normally of a considerable size, and a fairly uniform altitude. Examples are

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1122-459: The sand cat . In pre-historic times the Western desert is thought to have been a semi-arid grassland , home to savanna animals and hunter-gatherers ; evidence of abundant wildlife can be found in the cave paintings of the Gilf Kebir. It is thought that over-grazing and climate change led to desertification and the current geography. Even after this, however, the oases remained inhabited, and

1173-567: The " Roof of the World ", which is still being formed by the collisions of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates . The Tibetan Plateau covers approximately 2,500,000 km (970,000 sq mi), at about 5,000 m (16,000 ft) above sea level. The plateau is sufficiently high to reverse the Hadley cell convection cycles and to drive the monsoons of India towards

1224-688: The Altiplano lies within Bolivian and Peruvian territory while its southern parts lie in Chile. The Altiplano plateau hosts several cities like Puno, Oruro, El Alto and La Paz the administrative seat of Bolivia. Northeastern Altiplano is more humid than the Southwestern, the latter of which hosts several salares , or salt flats, due to its aridity. At the Bolivia-Peru border lies Lake Titicaca ,

1275-663: The Antiquities Museum at Kharga has artifacts dating back to times before the early Egyptian kingdoms. In ancient times the area was regarded as being under the jurisdiction of the kingdom of Egypt, and Egyptian remains can be found in all the oases. In 525 BC, the Lost Army of Cambyses , a military expedition by the Persian king Cambyses II got lost in the desert while searching for the Oracle of Ammon , at Siwa. In 333

1326-618: The Egypt-Libya border to Gazala , Cyrenaica and even El Agheila . The contemporary use of the term refers to the entire desert in Egypt west of the Nile. The Giza Plateau (هضبة الجيزة) is a plateau in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo , Egypt, at the edges of the Western Desert, site of the Fourth Dynasty Giza Necropolis , which includes the Great Pyramids of Khufu , Khafre and Menkaure ,

1377-559: The Great Sand Sea has two large areas with different types of megadunes. The Egyptian sand sea lies parallel to the Calanshio Sand Sea of Libya, with which it is contiguous in the north. The dunes of the Great Sand Sea cover about 10% of the total area of the Western Desert. The Black Desert (‏الصحراء السوداء) is a region of volcano-shaped and widely spaced mounds, distributed along about 30 km (19 mi) in

1428-472: The Ministry of Investment (MOI), the following industrial zones are located in this governorate: Plateau In geology and physical geography , a plateau ( / p l ə ˈ t oʊ , p l æ ˈ t oʊ , ˈ p l æ t oʊ / ; French: [plato] ; pl. : plateaus or plateaux ), also called a high plain or a tableland , is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that

1479-721: The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is at an elevation of about 2,450 m (8,040 ft) above sea level , and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about 2,150 m (7,050 ft) above sea level. At its deepest, the Colorado River is about 1,830 m (6,000 ft) below the level of the North Rim. Another high-altitude plateau in North America is the Mexican Plateau . With an area of 601,882 km (232,388 sq mi) and average height of 1,825 metres, it

1530-681: The Oracle of Ammon was visited by Alexander the Great , where he was confirmed as the son of Amun . With the absorption of the kingdom of Egypt into the Roman Empire, the desert region was organized into the province of Libya Inferior, while Cyrenaica became Libya Superior. In time the region came under the jurisdiction of the Byzantines and their successors, the Arabs, Mamluks and Turks. In 1882

1581-613: The Western Desert between the White Desert in the south and the Bahariya Oasis in the north. Most of its mounds are capped by basalt sills, giving them the characteristic black color. The mounds of the Black Desert, up to 100 metres (330 feet) high, vary in size, composition, height, and shape as some are dark consisting of iron quartzite while others are more reddish as its surface rocks consist of iron sandstone. On

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1632-609: The Western Desert of 1940 as 390 km (240 mi) wide (i.e. from the Nile to the Libyan border) and 240 km (150 mi) from the Mediterranean to the latitude of Siwa Oasis , while the region to the south was referred to as the Inner Desert. However, during the Second World War the term Western Desert came to apply not only to the coastal desert of Egypt but also to the area fought over in Libya, ranging beyond

1683-574: The area conforms to "the romantic view... the Hollywood scenery of wind-formed dunes with occasional oases fringed with palm" (although such areas do exist in the Sand Sea where dunes are sculpted into fantastic shapes); the area is also the location of a series of oases created where the land dips sufficiently to meet the aquifer. These lie in an arc from Siwa in the north-west near the Libyan border, to Bahariya , Farafra , Dakhla , then Kharga in

1734-459: The base to the top of the head and 19 m (62 ft) wide at its rear haunches. Its nose was broken off for unknown reasons between the 3rd and 10th centuries AD. The Sphinx is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and one of the most recognisable statues in the world. The archaeological evidence suggests that it was created by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of Khafre ( c.  2558–2532 BC). The Great Sand Sea

1785-750: The basis for war-time operations by such forces as the Long Range Desert Group . This period was also marked by the search for Zerzura , a mythical oasis in the deep desert. During the Second World War , from June 1940 until November 1942, it was the location of the Western Desert Campaign fought between the Axis powers (Italy and Germany) and the Western Allies (principally Britain and Commonwealth countries,

1836-474: The boundary to Marmarica proper. Matrouh Governorate contains many historical sites related to World War II . The latter include el Alamein , which comprises cemeteries of fallen soldiers from Axis and Allied forces. An estimated 16 million mines, planted by the Europeans during the world wars and called " devil's gardens ", still hinder the development of most of the governorate, and are constantly being removed. According to population estimates, in 2015

1887-431: The center of the Governorate is the Qattara Depression , descending to 133 metres below sea level. Marsa Matrouh is the ancient Koinē Greek : Παραιτόνιον Paraitónion , Latin Paraetonium . It was the westernmost city of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the Hellenistic period . The city of Apis , some 18 km to the west of Paraetonium, marked the boundary to Libycus nome , and the Halfaya Pass (at Sallum ) marked

1938-506: The gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon , the Indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana . Tepuis can be considered minute plateaus and tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species. Some of the most outstanding tepuis are Neblina , Autana , Auyan and Mount Roraima . They are typically composed of sheer blocks of Precambrian quartz arenite sandstone that rise abruptly from

1989-416: The jungle, giving rise to spectacular natural scenery. Auyán-tepui is the source of Angel Falls , the world's tallest waterfall . The Colombian capital city of Bogota sits on an Andean plateau known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense roughly the size of Switzerland. Averaging a height of 2,600 m (8,500 ft) above sea level, this northern Andean plateau is situated in the country's eastern range and

2040-453: The kingdom of Egypt became a British protectorate, and in 1912 the territory to the east was claimed by Italy as the colony of Libya. In the 20th century the Western Desert became an arena of conflict; during the First World War it was the location of the Senussi Campaign against the British and Italians. The 1930s saw an upsurge of exploration and mapping expeditions by British Army officers, such as Ralph Bagnold and Pat Clayton , laying

2091-463: The majority of residents in the governorate lived in urban areas, with an urbanization rate of 70.6%. Out of an estimated 447,846 people residing in the governorate, 316,005 people lived in urban areas as opposed to only 131,841 in rural areas. The Matrouh or Matruh ( Arabic مطروح / muh-troo / "Maṭrūḥ." ) Roots can be traced back to ancient Egypt. According to the Egyptian Governing Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), in affiliation with

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2142-419: The middle of Western Desert and increasing living space and prosperity for Egypt's growing population. President El-Sisi specified that 6.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 413 million) would be needed for the necessary infrastructure, breathing new life into national hopes for turning the desert green. Originally, Project Toshka was spear-headed by former President Hosni Mubarak , who spent 40 billion Egyptian pounds on

2193-479: The most notable of which is the country's largest lake, Lake Taupō . The plateau stretches approximately 100 km east to west and 130 km north to south. The majority of the plateau is more than 600 metres above sea level. A tepui ( / ˈ t ɛ p w i / ), or tepuy ( Spanish: [teˈpuj] ), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in the Guiana Highlands of South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana . The word tepui means "house of

2244-439: The outskirts of the Black Desert are volcanic hills proving the eruption of dark volcanic dolerite , dating back to the Jurassic period 180 million years ago. The White Desert is a national park , first established as a protected area in 2002. It is located in the Farafra depression , 45 km (28 mi) north of the town of Qsar El Farafra . Part of the park is in the Farafra Oasis ( New Valley Governorate ). The park

2295-440: The project, establishing the necessary electricity plants and water pumping stations. A few years later, however, the project came to a sudden halt, with failure being attributed to the lack of political will and necessary investments. 26°17′N 28°13′E  /  26.283°N 28.217°E  / 26.283; 28.217 Matrouh Governorate Matrouh Governorate ( Arabic : محافظة مطروح Muḥāfaẓat Maṭrūḥ )

2346-504: The south. East of Siwa lies the Qattara Depression , a low-lying area dotted with salt marsh and extending 310 km (190 mi) west to east and 135 km (84 mi) north to south. Further to the east, near the Nile, another depression gives rise to the Fayyum Oasis , a heavily populated area separate from the main Nile valley. To the south, beyond the Bahariya oasis lies the Black Desert , an area of black volcanic hills and dolerite deposits. Beyond this, north of Farafra, lies

2397-692: The south. The Deosai Plains in Pakistan are situated at an average elevation of 4,114 meters (13,497 ft) above sea level. They are considered to be the second highest plateaus in the world. Other major plateaus in Asia are: Najd on the Arabian Peninsula , elevation 762 to 1,525 m (2,500 to 5,003 ft), Armenian Highlands (≈400,000 km (150,000 sq mi), elevation 900–2,100 metres (3,000–6,900 ft)), Iranian Plateau (≈3,700,000 km (1,400,000 sq mi), elevation 300–1,500 metres (980–4,920 ft)), Anatolian Plateau , Mongolian Plateau (≈2,600,000 km (1,000,000 sq mi), elevation 1,000–1,500 metres (3,300–4,900 ft)), and

2448-416: The surrounding coastline through enormous glaciers . The polar ice cap is so massive that the echolocation measurements of ice thickness have shown that large areas are below sea level . But, as the ice melts, the land beneath will rebound through isostasy and ultimately rise above sea level. The largest and highest plateau in the world is the Tibetan Plateau , sometimes metaphorically described as

2499-403: Was known historically as the "Libyan Desert", taking its name from Ancient Libya , which lay between the Nile and Cyrenaica. With the formation of the state of Libya , the term "Western Desert" has come to describe the part of the Sahara in Egypt. To the Ancient Greeks, the term Libya described the whole Saharan littoral west of the Nile to the Atlas Mountains . In Roman times, the term Libya

2550-459: Was limited to Cyrenaica and the region between there and Egypt, organized as the provinces of Libya Superior and Libya Inferior. The term Libyan Desert then applied to the area to the south of these provinces. This became a misnomer during colonial times when Cyrenaica and the land to the west was organized as the Italian colony of Libya in 1911, and the term Western Desert used to describe the area within Egypt became more common. Playfair described

2601-467: Was once called Gallayat Plateaus, rising 3,300 ft above sea level. Another very large plateau is the icy Antarctic Plateau , which is sometimes referred to as the Polar Plateau or King Haakon VII Plateau, home to the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station , which covers most of East Antarctica where there are no known mountains but rather 3,000 m (9,800 ft) high of superficial ice and which spreads very slowly toward

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