RAS question
The Sahara Desert is located on which continent?
Correct answer: (C) Africa.
The Sahara Desert is located in Africa, across the northern part of the continent.
Explanation
The Sahara Desert is in northern Africa, so Africa is the correct continent. Britannica describes the Sahara as a desert in Africa and says it fills nearly all of the northern part of the continent. Its exam-relevant scale is that it covers about 9.2 million sq km, is the world's largest hot desert, and spans 11 countries, including Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Mali, and Niger. For RAS, the key is not just remembering a name but placing the landform correctly on the world map: Sahara belongs to Africa, not to Asia, Australia, or South America.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Australia is wrong because its major deserts include the Great Victoria and Simpson deserts, while the Sahara is in northern Africa.
- (B) Asia is wrong because the Sahara is specifically placed in northern Africa, not on the Asian continent.
- (D) South America is wrong because its desert examples include the Atacama and Patagonian deserts, whereas the Sahara is African.
Concept
This tests basic world physical geography: matching major deserts with their continents. It recurs in RAS because map-based location facts underpin questions on climate, landforms, and regional geography.