Major Deserts of the World (Gobi, Gibson, Thar etc)

A desert is a landscape or region that receives very little precipitation - less than 25 cm per year (about ten inches).

Approximately 1/3 of Earth's land surface is a desert, there are four different types of deserts based upon their geographic situation:

1) Polar deserts
2) Subtropical deserts
3) Cold winter deserts
4) Cool coastal deserts

Name Type of Desert Location
Antarctic Polar Antarctica
Arctic Polar Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia
Sahara (Biggest) Subtropical Northern Africa (Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia)
Ladakh cold desert Ladakh
Arabian Subtropical Arabian Peninsula
Gobi Cold Winter China and Mongolia
Great Victoria Subtropical Australia
Great Sandy Subtropical Australia
Gibson Subtropical Australia
Simpson Subtropical Australia
Kalahari Subtropical South Africa, Botswana, Namibia
Great Basin Cold Winter United States
Syrian Subtropical Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Nafud sandy Saudi Arabia
Hamada barren, hard rocky plateaus Saudi Arabia
Chihuahuan Subtropical Mexico
Colorado Cold Winter United States
Dasht-e Lut Salt Desert Iran
Dasht-e-Kavir Salt Desert Iran
Sonoran Subtropical United States, Mexico
Karakum Black Sand Turkmenistan
Kyzyl-Kum Cold Winter Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
Taklamakan Cold Winter China
Iranian Cold Winter Iran
Thar Subtropical India, Pakistan (Most Populated)
Mojave Subtropical United States
Atacama Cool Coastal, driest place Chile
Patagonian Cold Winter (temperate desert) Argentina
Namib Cool Coastal Angola, Namibia and South Africa

Related MCQs