Kharga Oasis

Also known as El Kharga, El-Ḵarga, Al-Kharga, Al-Wāḥāt al-Khārijah, Elkargeh

Depression in Egypt

Key facts

Country: Egypt
Governorate: New Valley
Total: 1,017 km (393 sq mi)
Elevation: 32 m (105 ft)
Density: 86.02/km (222.8/sq mi)
Time zone: UTC+2 ( EET )
Summer dst: UTC+3 ( EEST )

via Wikipedia infobox

~9 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Kharga Oasis (Arabic: الخارجة al-Ḫāriǧa, pronounced [elˈxæɾɡæ]) lit. 'the outer'; Coptic: (ϯ)ⲟⲩⲁϩ ⲛ̀ϩⲏⲃ (di)wah enhib, "Oasis of Hib", (ϯ)ⲟⲩⲁϩ ⲙ̀ⲯⲟⲓ (di)wah empsoi "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) 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, the 'outer' (he Exotero) to the Greeks and Oasis Magna to the Romans, is the largest of the oases in the Libyan Desert of Egypt. It is in a depression about 160 km (100 miles) long and between 20 km (12 miles) and 80 km (50 miles) wide. Its estimated population is 87,482 as of 2023.

Overview

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kharga Oasis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.