Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The World's Largest Desert

The World's Largest Desert


A desert is a landscape or region that receives very little precipitation - less than 250 mm per year (about ten inches). Approximately 1/3 of Earth's land surface is a desert.

The largest areas on Earth that fit this definition are the polar regions. Antarctica has a surface area of about 14 million square kilometers (5.5 million square miles), making it the largest desert in the world.

The largest non-polar desert is the Sahara Desert of northern Africa. The Sahara has a surface area of 9 million square kilometers (3.5 million square miles), and it stands as the largest non-polar desert in the world. See our Google map of the Sahara Desert to learn more about this interesting environment.

World Desert Map (non-polar deserts)



Enlarge the World Desert Map - Image by USGS

Major Deserts of the World

Name
Type of Desert
Surface Area
Location
Antarctic
Polar
5.5 million mi²
Antarctica
Arctic
Polar
5.4 million mi²
Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Russia
Sahara (map)
Subtropical
3.5 million mi²
Northern Africa
Arabian (map)
Subtropical
1 million mi²
Arabian Peninsula
Gobi
Cold Winter
500,000 mi²
China and Mongolia
Patagonian (map)
Cold Winter
260,000 mi²
Argentina
Great Victoria
Subtropical
250,000 mi²
Australia
Kalahari (map)
Subtropical
220,000 mi²
South Africa, Botswana, Namibia
Great Basin (map)
Cold Winter
190,000 mi²
United States
Thar (map)
Subtropical
175,000 mi²
India, Pakistan
Chihuahuan (map)
Subtropical
175,000 mi²
Mexico
Great Sandy (map)
Subtropical
150,000 mi²
Australia
Kara-Kum (map)
Cold Winter
135,000 mi²
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
Colorado Plateau
Cold Winter
130,000 mi²
United States
Gibson
Subtropical
120,000 mi²
Australia
Sonoran (map)
Subtropical
120,000 mi²
United States, Mexico
Kyzyl-Kum
Cold Winter
115,000 mi²
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan
Taklamakan (map)
Cold Winter
105,000 mi²
China
Iranian
Cold Winter
100,000 mi²
Iran
Simpson (map)
Subtropical
56,000 mi²
Australia
Mojave (map)
Subtropical
54,000 mi²
United States
Atacama (map)
Cool Coastal
54,000 mi²
Chile
Namib (map)
Cool Coastal
13,000 mi²
Angola, Namibia, South Africa

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