NCERT Book Class 7 Geography Life in the Deserts

Life in the Deserts

In Chapter 5, you have seen that water means life to plants, animals and people. It is difficult for anyone to live in places where there is no water to drink, where there is no grass for their cattle to feed on and where there is no water to help the crops to grow. We will now learn about the places in the world where people have learned to cope with extreme harsh temperatures; in some places as hot as fire and some as cold as ice. These are the desert areas of the world. These are characterised by low rainfall, scanty vegetation and extreme temperatures. Depending on the temperatures there can be hot deserts or cold deserts. The people inhabit these lands wherever little water is available to practise agriculture.

THE HOT DESERT – SAHARA

Look at the map of the world and the continent of Africa. Locate the Sahara desert covering a large part of North Africa. It is the world’s largest desert. It has an area of around 8.54 million sq. km. Do you recall that India has an area of 3.2 million sq. km? The Sahara desert touches eleven countries. These are Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

When you think of a desert the picture that immediately comes to your mind is that of sand. But besides the vast stretches of sands, that Sahara desert is covered with, there are also gravel plains and elevated plateaus with bare rocky surface. These rocky surfaces may be more than 2500m high at some places.

Climate

The climate of the Sahara desert is scorching hot and parch dry. It has a short rainy season. The sky is cloudless and clear. Here, the moisture evaporates faster than it accumulates. Days are unbelievably hot. The temperatures during the day may soar as high as50°C, heating up the sand and the bare rocks, which in turn radiates heat making everything around hot. The nights may be freezing cold with temperatures nearing zero degrees.

Flora and Fauna

Vegetation in the Sahara desert includes cactus, date palms and acacia. In some places there are oasis – green islands with date palms surrounding them. Camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, many varieties of People

The Sahara desert despite its harsh climate has been inhabited by various groups of people, who pursue different activities. Among them are the Bedouins and Tuaregs. These groups are nomadic tribes rearing livestock such as goats, sheep, camels and horses. These animals provide them with milk, hides from which they make leather for belts, slippers, water bottles; hair is used for mats, carpets, clothes and blankets. They wear heavy robes as protection against dust storms and hot winds.

The oasis in the Sahara and the Nile Valley in Egypt supports settled population. Since water is available, the people grow date palms. Crops such as rice, wheat, barley and beans are also grown. Egyptian cotton, famous worldwide is grown in Egypt. 

The discovery of oil – a product in great demand throughout the world, in Algeria, Libya and Egypt is constantly transforming the Sahara desert. Other minerals of importance that are found in the area include iron, phosphorus, manganese and uranium. The cultural landscape of the Sahara is undergoing change. Gleaming glass cased office buildings tower overmosques and superhighways crisscross the ancient camel paths. Trucks are replacing camels in the salt trade. Tuaregs are seen acting as guides to foreign tourists. More and more nomadic herdsmen are taking to city life finding jobs in oil and gas operations.

Exercises

1. Answer the following questions.

(a) What are the two types of deserts found in the world?

(b) In which continent is the Sahara desert located?

(c) What are the climatic conditions of the Ladakh desert?

(d) What mainly attracts tourists to Ladakh?

(e) What type of clothes the people of the Sahara desert wear?

(f) Name the trees that grow in Ladakh.

2. Tick the correct answer.

(i) Sahara is located in which part of Africa

(a) eastern    (b) northern    (c) western

(ii) Sahara is what type of desert

(a) cold        (b) hot               (c) mild

(iii) The Ladakh desert is mainly inhabited by

(a) Christians and Muslims

(b) Buddhists and Muslims

(c) Christians and Buddhists

(iv) Deserts are characterised by

(a) scanty vegetation

(b) heavy precipitation

(c) low evaporation

(v) Hemis in the Ladakh is a famous

(a) temple    (b) church    (c) monastery

(vi) Egypt is famous for growing

(a) wheat     (b) maize     (c) cotton

4. Give reasons.

(i) There is scanty vegetation in the deserts.

(ii) People of the Sahara desert wear heavy robes.

5. Map skills.

(i) On the outline map of Africa, mark the Sahara desert.

(ii) On the outline map of India, mark the Karakoram Range, Zanskar Range, Ladakh and Zoji La pass.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 7 Geography Life in the Deserts