Video narration
If a blank India map feels difficult to place, the Sahara creates a UPSC problem: knowing "Africa" is not enough. On a world map, look to northern Africa. It lies south of the Mediterranean Sea, extends west toward the Atlantic Ocean, and reaches east toward the Red Sea. Its southern edge is not sharp; it gradually transitions into the Sahel, the semi-arid belt south of the desert. Now correct the common picture. The Sahara is not one continuous sheet of sand. It includes sand seas, rocky plateaus, and gravel plains-not one uniform surface. The Sahara stops being a single yellow patch and becomes a region. Its position in the subtropical belt supports dryness, while the shift toward the Sahel changes conditions along the southern margin. For UPSC, place it across northern Africa, between the Mediterranean and the Sahel. Remember varied terrain and scale.