Coastal Libyan Desert

South of the Gulf of Sirte, the coastal plain gives way to a wide stretch of arid country. Gravel plains, sand and low escarpments connect the Mediterranean shore with the Sahara, separating the better-watered regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. Farther inland lie the oases of the Fezzan, set among stony plateaux and desert basins. Here the desert reaches close to the sea, and vegetation becomes sparse away from the coast.