Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the word 'dense' in the given sentence.
"The African continent has thick forests but the Sahara desert area has sparse distribution of population."

The word 'dense' means closely compacted in substance, crowded, or thick.
The correct antonym is 'sparse', which means thinly dispersed, scattered, or scanty.

In the context of the sentence, "dense distribution" would mean crowded populations, whereas "sparse distribution" means scattered or thin populations.