Sinai Desert

The northern Sinai desert stretches south of the Mediterranean coast, where sheets of sand and belts of dunes cover broad plains. Farther inland, ridges of limestone rise above shallow depressions and dry watercourses. Rain is scarce and falls irregularly, sometimes running briefly through the wadis. The western part of this sandy country extends from the Suez region toward Wadi al-Arish, between the Nile Delta and the higher interior of Sinai.