Inside the Empty Quarter

The Rub' al Khali covers most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. It spans 650,000 km².

Its surface elevation drops from 800 metres in the southwest to sea level in the northeast. Feldspar turns sand reddish-orange.

Moisture keeps these sand dunes from drifting. The essential shape of the dunes remains intact.

Shallow lakes formed here between 6,000 and 5,000 years ago after heavy rainfall. The shallow lakes have since been evicted.

Annual precipitation stays under 50 millimetres. Relative humidity drops to 15 percent in June and July.

Wild Arabian oryx were reintroduced between 1995 and 2013. 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid became a Natural World Heritage site in 2023.

Frankincense caravans crossed this land until about 300 AD. Desertification made the trails difficult.

In 2025 Gavin Booth and Adam Wilton walked roughly 780 kilometres in 22 days without resupply.