Important Deserts Of the World
Here is a map showing important deserts of the world:
List of Deserts of the world
Rank Name Type Area Location (km²) 1 Antarctica Cold Winter 14,000,000 Antarctica
2 Arctic Cold Winter 13,985,000 Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia 3 Sahara Subtropical 9,000,000+ North Africa (Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara) 4 Arabian Desert Subtropical 2,330,000 Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen)
5 Gobi Desert Cold Winter 1,000,000 Central Asia (Mongolia)
6 Kalahari Desert Subtropical 900,000 Southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa)
7 Great Victoria Subtropical 647,000 Australia Desert 8 Patagonian Desert Cold Winter 620,000 South America (Argentina and Chile)
9 Syrian Desert Subtropical 520,000 Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, and Syria) 10 Great Basin Desert Cold Winter 492,000 United States
11 Chihuahuan Subtropical 450,000 North America (Mexico Desert and United States)
12 Great Sandy Subtropical 400,000 Australia Desert 13 Karakum Desert Cold Winter 350,000 Turkmenistan 14 Colorado Plateau Cold Winter 337,000 United States
15 Sonoran Desert Subtropical 310,000 North America (Mexico and United States) 16 Kyzylkum Desert Cold Winter 300,000 Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)
17 Taklamakan Cold Winter 270,000 China Desert 18 Thar Desert Subtropical 200,000 South Asia (India, Pakistan) 19 Gibson Desert Subtropical 156,000 Australia 20 Dasht-e Margo Subtropical 150,000 Afghanistan 21 Registan Desert Subtropical 146,000 Afghanistan
22 Simpson Desert Subtropical 145,000 Australia 23 Atacama Desert Cool Coastal 140,000 South America (Chile and Peru) 24 Mojave Desert Subtropical 124,000 United States 25 Namib Desert Cool Coastal 81,000 Southern Africa (Angola and Namibia)
26 Dasht-e Kavir Subtropical 77,000 Iran
27 Dasht-e Loot Subtropical 52,000 Iran
Some Interesting Facts:
• The world’s largest desert is Antarctica. • The original meaning of the word desert is 'an abandoned place'. • Around one third of the Earth's surface is covered in deserts. • Many of the ice-free regions of the Arctic and Antarctic are known as polar deserts. • Only around 20% of the deserts on Earth are covered in sand. • The largest cold desert on Earth is Antarctica & the largest hot desert is Sahara. • The Sahara Desert is in northern Africa, spanning 11 different countries. • The Atacama Desert is in South America and is known as the driest place in the world. Even after this 1 million people are staying there.