Arabia, The Rub' al-Khali

The largest uninterrupted sand desert in the world, the Rub' al-Khali covers an area estimated at about 250,000 square miles. The name Rub' al-Khali is not commonly used by the few nomadic Bedouin who live there; they call it simply Ar-Ramlah (�The Sand�). Shrub vegetation is widely spaced over the porous, sandy surfaces and is almost nonexistent on the occasional rock and salt surfaces.