Kharga Oasis
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View of Kharga Oasis with the Temple of Hibis in the centre and the desert cliffs at the top
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 Kharga
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| Coordinates: 25°26′56″N 30°32′24″E / 25.44889°N 30.54000°E | |
| Country | Egypt |
| Governorate | New Valley |
| Elevation | 32 m (105 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 67,700 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC+2) |
The Kharga Oasis (Egyptian Arabic: الخارجة El Kharga pronounced [elˈxæɾɡæ]), (meaning "the outer") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or "El Kharga" is also the name of a major town located in the oasis, the capital of New Valley Governorate. The oasis, which was known as the 'Southern Oasis' to the Ancient Egyptians, is the largest of the oases in the Libyan desert of Egypt. It is in a depression about 160 km long and from 20 km to 80 km wide. Its population is 67,700 (2012).
Kharga is the most modernized of Egypt's western oases. The main town is highly functional with all modern facilities, and virtually nothing left of old architecture. Although framed by the oasis, there is no oasis feeling to it; unlike all other oases in this part of Egypt. There is extensive thorn palm, acacia, buffalo thorn and jujube growth in the oasis surrounding the modern town of Kharga. Many remnant wildlife species inhabit this region.
The Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh).
A trade route called Darb El Arba`īn (, "the Way of Forty") passed through Kharga in the south and Asyut in the north It was a long caravan route running north-south between Middle Egypt and the Sudan. It was used from as early as the Old Kingdom of Egypt for the transport and trade of gold, ivory, spices, wheat, animals and plants. The maximum extent of Darb El Arba`īn was northward from Kobbei in Darfur, 25 miles north of al-Fashir, passing through the desert, through Bir Natrum and Wadi Howar, and ending in Egypt.
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