How big is the Sahara desert? (the area of Germany is 357,386 km²)
The Sahara is the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its area of 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi) is comparable to the area of China or the United States. The name 'Sahara' is derived from dialectal Arabic word for "desert".