On Wednesday, 29 th March 2006, the shadow of the Moon will sweep a band starting from Brazil , through Atlantic Ocean, Gold Coast of Africa, Saharan Desert, Mediterranean Sea , Turkey , Black Sea , Georgia , Russian Federation , northern shores of Caspian Sea , Kazakhstan ; ending in Mongolia . The duration of totality will be less than 2 minutes near the sunrise and sunset limits, but will be as long as 4 minutes and 8 seconds in Libya, at the moment of greatest eclipse. The path of totality will be 180 kilometers wide at that moment.

Libya , the fourth largest country in Africa, is a cultural and geographic bridge between Egypt and the Arabian lands to the East, and acts as a link between the Mediterranean/ Europe and Saharan Africa. The climate is Mediterranean with hot dry summers, cool winters and some modest rainfall. Weather can be variable, influenced by the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea , which moderates daily temperature ranges. In Tripoli , average temperatures are 86 deg F in summer and 46 deg F in winter; annual precipitation averages 15 inches, and falls mainly in winter. In the southern deserts, frequent periods of drought occur, and a scorching wind called the “GHIBLI”, which is a hot, very dry, sand laden wind, can raise the temperatures in a matter of hours.