Oasis

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Oasis in the Libyan part of the Sahara

For other uses, see Oasis (disambiguation).

In geography, an oasis is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source.

The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas. Caravans must travel via oases in order that supplies of water and food can be eaten . Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on a particular route. For example, the oases of Awjila, Ghadames and Kufra, situated in modern-day Libya, have at various times been vital to both North-South and East-West trade in the Sahara desert.

The word oasis comes into English via Greek ὄασις oasis, borrowed directly from Egyptian wḥ3t or Demotic wḥỉ. It was not borrowed from Coptic ⲟⲩⲁϩⲉ ouaḥe (*/waħe/), as is sometimes suggested; the Greek word is attested several centuries before Coptic existed as a written language.

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