people

It is believed that people have inhabited the Sahara Desert since 6000 BCE and earlier. Since then, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Europeans have been among the peoples in the area. Today the Sahara's population is around 4 million with the majority of the people living in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania and Western Sahara.

Most of the people living in the Sahara today do not live in cities; instead they are nomads who move from region to region throughout the desert. Because of this, there are many different nationalities and languages in the region but Arabic is most widely spoken. For those who do live in cities or villages on fertile oases, crops and the mining of minerals like iron ore (in Algeria and Mauritania) and copper (in Mauritania) are important industries that have allowed population centers to grow.

Morocco's population is about 33.5 million inhabitants. Greater is the concentration in the northern and coastal areas and less in the interior and southern parts of the country. The largest cities are Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, Fes, Tangier, Agadir and others. The ethnic composition of the Moroccan population is diverse - Arabs, Berbers, Jews, dark-skinned and so on

Conservation status for the desert is relatively good compared to other regions because of it's harsh conditions. Morocco, however, recently developed their tourist attraction and hosting desert tours.