10 largest deserts in the world

найбільші пустелі у світі Interesting facts

A list of deserts that impress with their gigantic size. Deserts are natural areas where the plain occupies all or almost the entire territory, the fauna is specific, and the flora may be absent. The presence of sand underfoot and high temperatures are optional conditions. Deserts can be not only sandy, but also ice, rocky, clay, and salt marshes.

Antarctic desert: the largest desert in the world

Antarctic Kestrel

  • Location: Antarctica.
  • Area: 13.8 million km2.
  • Average temperature: about -65 °C in winter and about -40 °C in summer.

The largest desert in terms of area is the Antarctic. Its area is 13.8 million km2, which is the same as the combined territory of Canada and India. It is also the most beautiful, lifeless place on Earth. And the coldest. It was here that a record low temperature of -98 °C was recorded in 2018.

Only a few people can survive in a desert characterized by a harsh climate. Therefore, the world’s largest desert is characterized by poor flora and fauna. Vegetation is represented by lichens, mosses, and algae. Among the animals, there are some insects and birds, and whales, sperm whales, killer whales, and pinnipeds are found in the waters.

Sahara: the largest desert in Africa

Sahara: the largest desert in Africa

  • Location: Algeria, Egypt, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.
  • Area: 9.4 million km2.
  • Average temperature: about +13 °C in winter, about +37 °C in summer.

The largest desert on the continent can be compared in size to the United States, and it continues to grow. According to forecasts, by 2040, Lake Chad will dry up, and nothing will hold back the Sahara’s advance.

This was not always the case. In ancient times, the Sahara Desert was a region with a moderately humid climate. Changes in the Earth’s orbit and the shrinking of the polar ice sheets caused alternating periods of rain and drought, and gradually the region became the one we know today. (Climate change continues. It has snowed for the fifth time in the Sahara in the last 42 years.)

The flora and fauna of the Sahara represent an amazing world that is not as monotonous as we think. However, human settlements are formed only in oases, and 2.5 million people live in the desert, which is about five times less than in Moscow.

Arabian desert: the homeland of the Bedouins

Arabian desert

  • Location: Arabian Peninsula.
  • Area: 2.3 million km2.
  • Average temperature: about +10 °C in winter and about +45 °C in summer.

According to foreign scientists, the Arabian Desert ranks third among the world’s largest deserts. This is the name given to a complex of desert regions located on the Arabian Peninsula and comparable in size to Algeria.

Interestingly, in Russia, the Arabian Desert is called the northeastern part of the Sahara, which occupies about a quarter of Egypt. At the time, its area was much smaller, 222,000 km2, which is comparable to, for example, the United Kingdom.

The Arabian Peninsula is considered the homeland of the Bedouins. Approximately 300,000 years ago, herds of elephants and other animals roamed here, people lived here, and the territory itself was immersed in greenery. Today, due to extreme temperature changes, the flora and fauna are very scarce. During the day, the temperature in the desert can be from +56 °C, and at night it can be down to -12 °C. (Do you know why it is hot in the desert during the day and cold at night?)

Gobi: the way to Shambhala

Gobi Desert

  • Location: Mongolia and China.
  • Area: 1.3 million km2.
  • Average temperature: about -24 °C in winter and about +17 °C in summer.

The Gobi Desert is slightly smaller than Peru in area. Temperature fluctuations in the region are also extreme: from -40 °C in winter to +45 °C in summer. There is not much sand, and most of the landscape is made up of clay and stones. Saigas, camels, gazelles, wolves, and the Gobi bear can be found in the mountains.

According to legend, it is in the Gobi that the entrance to the mystical country of Shambhala is located, where the spring that gives life to all living things is located. In Mongolia, tours are organized to the Hamarin Khid Monastery, where the road to Shambhala supposedly begins. However, no one has yet managed to find the mysterious entrance.

Syrian desert: an important transportation hub

  • Location: Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia.
  • Area: 1 million km2.
  • Average temperature: about +7 °C in winter, about +29 °C in summer.

The Syrian Desert, which is comparable in size to Egypt, is more of a steppe with sandy areas. The desert covers about two-thirds of Syria. The region has long connected the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. Only nowadays have camel caravans become rare, and highways have been laid across the territory.

The Kalahari: a place where the sands “sing”

Калахарі пустеля

  • Location: Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.
  • Area: 900 000 km2.

Average temperature: about +12 °C in winter and about +29 °C in summer.

The desert covers about the same area as Venezuela. Thanks to an oasis in the Okavango Delta, the Kalahari is home to hippos, elephants, zebras, lions, giraffes, and other fauna.

The main type of landscape is a desert steppe, and due to the presence of iron oxides in the local sands, their color is mostly orange-red. By the way, it is in the Kalahari that the “singing sands” are found. According to legend, these are the voices of evil spirits imprisoned underground. There is also a scientific version: the synchronized movement of grains of sand of the same shape forms a surface similar to a loudspeaker membrane.

Great Victoria Desert: the largest desert in Australia

Great Victoria Desert

  • Location: Australia.
  • Area: 424,400 km2.
  • Average temperature: about +20 °C in winter, about +36 °C in summer. (Do not forget that European and North American summers in Australia are winter).

The sand and salt desert is slightly smaller than Iraq, but larger than Japan in area. It was named after Queen Victoria by British explorer Ernest Giles, who was the first European to cross the desert in 1875.

The region is inhabited by Australian aborigines, but a large area of it is one of Australia’s biosphere reserves. The flora is mainly represented by thickets of eucalyptus and stunted acacias. Animals include mammals, such as the dingo dog.

Karoo: a desert with flowers

Karoo

  • Location: South Africa and Namibia.
  • Area: 395 000 km2.
  • Average temperature: about +20 °C in winter and about +13 °C in summer.

The Karoo Desert occupies a third of South Africa and straddles Namibia. It is about twice the size of Syria. In the east, the Karoo borders the Kalahari, and in the northwest it rests against the Namibian plateau, which turns into the Namib Desert. Interestingly, the east is dominated by a Mediterranean climate, but the desert hardly receives any moisture – this is prevented by the Cape Mountains. During the rainy season, irises, amaryllis, and lilies bloom in the Karoo.

Chihuahua: on the border of two countries

Chihuahua

  • Location: near the US-Mexico border.
  • Area: 362,000 km2.
  • Average temperature: about +15 °C in winter and about +32 °C in summer.

One of the largest deserts in the world, slightly larger than Germany, is an arid plain interrupted by mountain ranges. Due to its high altitude, it is not so hot in summer and winds are frequent in winter.

Several large Mexican and American cities are located on the territory. And under the city of Naica in Mexico, there is a cave that is unique for its giant selenite crystals. The largest of them is 11 meters long and 4 meters wide, and weighs 55 tons, which is three and a half times the weight of the world’s largest animal, the blue whale.

Great Sandy Desert: Australia’s hottest desert

Great Sandy Desert

  • Location: Australia.
  • Area: 360,000 km2.
  • Average temperature: about +18 °C in winter and about +35 °C in summer. 

Northwest Australia is home to not only one of the largest deserts on earth, but also the hottest region of the continent. From December to February, when it is summer in Australia, the temperature here reaches up to +35 °C.

It is assumed that the subsoil may contain minerals, but people are not attracted to it and there are very few settlements. Most of the landscape is made up of red dunes, sometimes crossed by ravines with seasonal streams.

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