Northwest Africa
Le Maghreb contains Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Each of these countries has a rich history and an interesting culture. A famous proverb from Le Maghreb is, “Celui qui t’apprend vaut mieux que celui qui te donne.” This means, "The one who teaches you is more valuable than the one who gives to you." This is similar to the English proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." In this interactivity, you will explore various aspects of Le Maghreb. Click the player to begin.
View a printable version of this interactivity.
The Sahara Desert
The Sahara Desert is the third largest desert in the world, spanning 3.6 million square miles over northern Africa. In Arabic, its name translates to "The Great Desert." It spans across Le Maghreb, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Atlas Mountains and Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea to the east, and the Sudan and Niger River valley to the south. The majority of the desert is rocky, hard plateaus; not sand dunes as many people believe. Today, the Sahara Desert does not contain enough water or vegetation to support many living creatures, except for a few places in the Nile Valley.
Take a moment to view a NASA's video of an Evening Pass Over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East, taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on October 6, 2011, when they were aboard the International Space Station. Notice the rust coloring in the beginning of the video. This indicates the Sahara Desert. The above hyper-link will take you to a video from NASA's website. Click the player button on the video to view the scene.
Northwest Africa Review
Now that you have learned a little about Northwest Africa, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Click the player to get started.