Why was the Rub’ al-Khali desert given this name?

Arabian desert

The area of ​​the Great Arabian Desert extends to about 2.6 million square kilometers, and within this area lies most of the Arabian Peninsula, and among the countries that are considered among the countries of the Great Desert are Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, some parts of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and Yemen, and it is considered the desert of the Quarter. Al-Khali is one part of this Sahara desert.

Rub al-Khali desert

The Empty Quarter Desert comes in second place in terms of area, as its area extends to 647,500 km². This desert is divided between four Gulf countries: Yemen, Oman, the Emirates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but the latter has the largest share of this desert, and the length of the entire desert reaches more than 1000 km. With a width of up to five hundred square kilometers.

The Rub' al-Khali desert is characterized by the spread of moving sand dunes that rise to more than 300 metres. It is known that the Rub' al-Khali desert lacks landmarks and terrain. It is noteworthy that in 1931 AD the traveler Bertram Thomas made the first documented trip to the Rub' al-Khali, and John Philby followed him in the following year. In Arabic literature, Yaqut al-Hamawi called it the Bereen Oasis, and the reason for this name is due to the oasis located in the northern part of the desert.

The Empty Quarter is considered a place rich in wealth, as oil, natural gas, and a number of radioactive minerals are extracted from it, in addition to glass sand and solar energy. Over time, it became a center for the National Oil Company’s stations that explore and extract oil.

Label

The name “Empty Quarter” comes from the area occupied by the desert in relation to the Arabian Peninsula, as it covers a quarter of the total area of ​​the Arabian Peninsula region, in addition to its lack of human life and its complete absence of it due to the prevailing climatic conditions in it, represented by high temperature, scarcity of rain, and lack of vegetation cover.

geography

The Rub al-Khali Desert is geographically located between longitudes 45,56 to the east, and latitudes 16,23 to the north. The sand dunes spread throughout it take the shape of a horseshoe, some of which are in the shape of domes, and some of them take the shape of veins.

the climate

The Rub' al-Khali desert is affected by the continental climate, which is characterized by its high heat in summer, where temperatures reach 50 degrees, and its extreme cold in winter, where temperatures reach below zero.

Despite these harsh climatic conditions, there is life for some living creatures above its sand, such as spiders, rodents, and some desert plants, as well as reptiles and gerbils.