Where Are the 25 Biggest Deserts in the World? What is a Desert?
A desert isn’t simply a desert: geologists differentiate between sandy, rocky and salt deserts as well as icy wastes (including the two largest in our list of all biggest deserts on earth). However the definition is the same for all of them: a desert only earns the title if less than 5% of its area is covered with vegetation. Together with all the “semi-deserts” around 10% of the earth’s surface is classed as desert.
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Biggest Deserts in the World | Location | Area (km2) | Area (sq miles) | Notable Characteristics |
---|---|---|---|---|
Antarctic desert | Antarctic | 14,000,000 | 5,405,430 | Ice desert with an average ice thickness of about 2.2 km. Low-temperature record of -89.2 degrees (measured at Vostok research station). |
Arctic desert | Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Iceland, Russia, Finland | 13,400,000 | 5,173,769 | Ice desert with temperatures as low as -60°. |
Sahara | Egypt, Mali, Algeria, Libya, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Tunisia, Mauritania | 9,400,000 | 3,629, 360 | Of course, Sahara in Africa is not just one of the biggest deserts in the world. It’s the largest sandy desert on Earth. And ca. 37 times bigger than the UK. Located in 11 countries, about 45 mm of rain p.a., extreme temperature fluctuations between 60° to minus 10° C. |
Rub al Khali (Arabian Desert) | Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen | 2,330,000 | 899,618 | About 9 times as large as the UK, lies to the east of the Sahara on the Arabian Peninsula. With about 10 mm of rainfall a year, the 2nd biggest deserts in the world is one of the driest. |
Gobi | Mongolia, PR China | 1,290,000 | 498,071 | Extremely dry, sandy desert with temperatures between 30° (daytime) and -65° C at night. 33 mm of rain p.a., extends south to within 70 km of Beijing. |
Kalahari | Botswana, Namibia, South Africa | 930,000 | 359,075 | Mostly (red) sand desert. In the north (Botswana) it borders on the animal rich Okavango Delta. |
Patagonian Desert | Argentina | 640,000 | 247,105 | Rock and gravel desert. Ideal backdrop for Westerns, average rainfall 100 mm / year. |
Syrian Desert | Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia | 500,000 | 193,051 | Covers about 65% of the Syrian land area. |
Great Basin Desert | USA (Colorado, Utah) | 492,000 | 189,962 | Located in the Sierra Nevada Ranch. Considered one of the so-called “cold deserts”, to the east are the Rocky Mountains. |
Chihuahua | Mexico & USA | 362,600 | 140,000 | Pronounced “She-wow-wah”, the famous White Sands dunes are found here. |
Karakum | Turkmenistan | 350,000 | 135,135 | Very sparse but rich in mineral resources such as petroleum. |
Great Victoria Desert | Australia | 650,000 | 25,097 | Situated in the middle of the continent and about three times larger than the UK. 150-220 mm rain annually, particularly worth seeing: the crescent-shaped dunes of clay. |
Taklamakan | PR China | 337,000 | 130,116 | In English: “no return”. Silk Road desert with Kara Buran sandstorms. |
Kyzylkum | Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan | 298,000 | 115,058 | Its name means red sand. Rich in natural resources and fossils. |
Great Sandy Desert | Western Australia | 285,000 | 110,039 | So hot and dry that it is uninhabitable in many parts. |
Sonora | USA (California) & Mexico | 260,000 | 100,386 | Home of the famous “Saguaro Cacti” which grow up to 15 m high. |
Thar | Indo-Pakistan. Border | 260,000 | 100,386 | About the size of Great Britain. |
Simpson | Central Australia, Queensland | 176,500 | 68,147 | Largest sand dune desert in the world. With daily high temperatures of up to 58º Celsius, guaranteed to help you work up a sweat. Even if you just want to take a quick look at the “Big Red” dune. It wasn’t until 1936 that a “white man” (Edmund Colson) succeeded in crossing the desert. |
Lut | Iran | 166,000 | 64,093 | Biggest desert in Iran, salt desert. |
Gibson | Western Australia | 156,000 | 60,232 | Named after Alfred Gibson who died during the first crossing in 1873. |
Atacama | Northern Chile | 105,000 | 40,541 | Geologists consider it to be the driest desert in the world. It only rains about every 30 years. Since the cold Humboldt stream of the Pacific rarely develops rain clouds. Up to 6,000 meters high in places. |
An Nafud (aka Al-Nefud or The Nefud) | Saudi Arabia | 103,600 | 40,000 | The desert with red sand in the northern Arabian Peninsula is known for its sudden trade winds. And high dunes (up to 180 meters). To the south it borders the larger Rub al-Chali. An up to 80 km wide, natural pebble and sand strip (Wadi Adhanah) forms its boundary |
Danakil | Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti | 100,000 | 38,610 | Hot! Daytime temperatures over 50°C on a nice day! Dry! About 2cm (1 inch) of rainfall a year. Plenty of volcanoes. |
Namib | Namibia | 81,000 | 31,274 | Extremely arid desert. Home only to plant life – the welwitschia, which can survive for up to 1000 years. |
Mojave | USA | 65,000 | 25,097 | Home to the famous Death Valley. The hottest place on earth (heat record: 57° C). |
Negev | Israel | 12,000 | 4,633 | Accounts for more than half (about 58%) of the State of Israel. |
See also: Volcano Facts… | Islands on Earth…
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