White Desert
| Farafra | |
|---|---|
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 Farafra
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| Coordinates: 27°03′30″N 27°58′12″E / 27.05833°N 27.97000°E | |
| Country |
 Egypt
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| Governorate | New Valley Governorate |
| Time zone | EST (UTC+2) |
Coordinates: 27°03′30″N 27°58′12″E / 27.05833°N 27.97000°E
The Farafra depression (Arabic: واحة الفرافرة pronounced [elfɑˈɾɑfɾɑ]) is the second biggest depression by size in Western Egypt and the smallest by population, near latitude 27.06° north and longitude 27.97° east. It is in the large Western Desert of Egypt, approximately midway between Dakhla and Bahariya oases.
Farafra has an estimated 5,000 inhabitants (2002) mainly living in the town of Farafra and is mostly inhabited by the local Bedouins. Parts of the town have complete quarters of traditional architecture, simple, smooth, unadorned, all in mud colour — local culture and traditional methods of building and carrying out repairs have been supported by its tourism. Often grouped within Farafra are the hot springs at Bir Sitta (the sixth well) and the El-Mufid lake.
A main geographic attraction of Farafra is its White Desert (known as Sahara el Beyda, with the word sahara meaning a desert) — a national park of Egypt and 45 km (28 mi) north of the town of Farafra, the main draw of which is its rock type colored from snow-white to cream. It has massive chalk rock formations that are textbook examples of ventifact and which have been created as a result of occasional sandstorm in the area. The Farafra desert is a typical place visited by some schools in Egypt, as a location for camping trips. The desert was also the featured location in the music video accompanying the piece Echoes in the 2008–2011 album by the Klaxons.
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Wikipedia