Coastal Libyan Desert

Between the Gulf of Sirte and the oases of Cyrenaica stretches a dry country of gravel, sand and shallow desert valleys. The coastal plain opens southward into the Sahara, where great expanses of stony ground alternate with sand seas. Farther east, a chain of oases including Marada and Awjila offers water and palm groves amid the desert. The wide intervals between these inhabited places give the landscape its austere character.