The world’s largest continuous sand desert is bigger than France – and is so desolate that it is called The Empty Quarter.
Rub’ al Khali is a vast, otherworldly expanse known for its towering sand dunes – which reach heights of 820 feet. It covers approximately 250,000 square miles and is an area of extreme arid conditions.
The desert is so huge that it spans four different countries – Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. It forms a significant part of the Arabian Desert – which also features salt flats and intermittent gravel plains.
This inhospitable region experiences scorching temperatures, often exceeding 50C in summer, and receives very little rainfall. Nighttime temperatures can drop significantly – usually to around 25C to 30C in summer, which is warm compared to other deserts at night.
However, in the winter months – November to February – nights can get surprisingly cold, with temperatures often falling to as low as 5C. While it is not a hospitable environment, Rub’ al Khali rewards adventurous travellers with its dramatic beauty.
The desert’s extreme heat, shifting dunes, and lack of water make it a challenging destination. Nonetheless, multi-day treks, 4×4 expeditions, and photography tours are organised by specialised operators.
While it remains largely untouched and undeveloped, some areas of the Rub’ al Khali have become tourism hotspots. In Saudi Arabia, Liwa Oasis is a gateway to the Rub’ al Khali, known for its dramatic dunes and cultural experiences.
In the UAE, luxury desert resorts like Qasr Al Sarab provide high-end experiences, including dune bashing, camel trekking, and stargazing. Wahiba Sands in Oman perhaps offers the easiest access to the sand dunes – and is rich in Bedouin culture.
The Empty Quarter is also rich in history and mystery. The legendary lost city of Ubar, sometimes called the ‘Atlantis of the Sands’, is reputed to have existed near its edge.
This myth has fascinated explorers, archaeologists and writers for centuries. It is sometimes linked with Iram of the Pillars, mentioned in the Quran.
Iram was said to be a city of great wealth, but was inhabited by powerful people who defied God’s laws. According to Islam, Iram was destroyed as a divine punishment – and buried beneath the sands – as a warning to others.
In the 1990s, a team led by Nicholas Clapp and supported by NASA satellite imaging identified a site in Oman, near the modern village of Shisr. They uncovered remains of an ancient settlement with collapsed structures – which some people believe may have been Ubar.
However, artifacts found at Shisr – such as pottery and trade items – suggest it was an important trading post rather than a vast, advanced city. And skeptics argue that the Atlantis of the Sands is – like its watery counterpart – a myth, or a conflation of various historical accounts and poetic exaggeration.
