Sudan copper, gold, granite, gypsum, iron, kaolin, lead, manganese, mica, natural gas, nickel, petroleum, silver, tin, uranium and zinc. The amount of rainfall increases towards the south. The central and the northern part have extremely dry desert areas such as the Nubian Desert to the northeast and the Bayuda Desert to the east; in the south there are swamps and rainforest. Sudan's rainy season lasts for about three months (July to September) in the north, and up to six months (June to November) in the south. The dry regions are plagued by sandstorms, known as haboob, which can completely block out
Sahara Desert (ecoregion) that crosses the ecoregion is the Nile River, which originates in central Africa and empties northwards into the Mediterranean Sea. Some areas encompass vast underground aquifers resulting in oases, while other regions severely lack water reserves. The Sahara Desert features a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification "BWh"). The Sahara Desert is one of the driest and hottest regions of the world, with a mean temperature sometimes over and the average high temperatures in summer are over for months at a time, and can even soar to . In desert rocky mountains such as the Tibesti in Libya or the