Grand Erg Oriental Grand Erg Oriental The Grand Erg Oriental (English: 'Great Eastern Sand Sea') is a large "erg" or "field of sand dunes" in the Sahara Desert. Situated for the most part in Saharan lowlands of northeast Algeria, the Grand Erg Oriental covers an area some 600 km wide by 200 km north to south. The erg's northeastern edge spills over into neighbouring Tunisia. The Grand Erg Oriental is a desert, a natural region receiving very little rainfall. It is the largest "Erg" in Algeria, the next in size being the much smaller Grand Erg Occidental ('Western Sand Sea'). The largest erg
Erg of Bilma been stabilized by the growth of vegetation, allowing human cultivation of crops like millet and sorghum on the slopes. The ancient Bornu Empire to Fezzan caravan routes had to cross the dunes of the erg south of Bilma as the last major obstacle before reaching the sahel. While that traffic largely ceased after 1820, trade though the erg of Bilma continues from the Lake Chad region and the Termit Massif on a small scale. Erg of Bilma The Erg of Bilma is a dune sea (Arabic: "erg") in the Ténéré desert region of the south central Sahara Desert. The Erg