Overview On Deserts Of The World
Desert is defined as a location with fewer than 10 inches (25 centimetres) of annual rainfall. Deserts cover approximately a fifth of the Earth’s land surface and can be found on all continents. Semi Arid, Hot and Dry, Cold, and Coastal deserts are the four basic types of deserts that can be found.
In other words a desert can be defined as a land that is completely devoid of life. Almost all deserts are found between 15-30 degrees latitude north-south.
Different Types of Deserts:
- Hot and Dry Deserts: They are the hottest among all deserts. These are also known as arid or subtropical deserts. Year around, the temperature in these deserts is warm and dry.
- Semi-Arid Deserts: These are similar to hot and dry deserts, but the temperature in comparison to them is cooler.
- Coastal Deserts: These kinds of deserts are found near large water bodies. They are humid in comparison to the other kind of deserts. The Atacama Desert in South America is a coastal desert.
- Cold Deserts: These deserts are having extremely cold temperatures and dry conditions. Basically found in polar areas.
Important deserts of the world:
1. Desert name: Sahara Desert
Area: 84,00,000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Niger, Sudan, Mauritanian, Morocco, Mali, Algeria, Chad, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt.
Note:
- It is the largest hot desert in the world.
- It is the 3rd largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic desert in the world.
Desert type: Subtropical
2. Desert name: Australia Desert
Area: 1550300 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Great victorian, Simpson, Gibson, Stuart and great sandy desert areas together are called Australian deserts.
Desert type: Subtropical
3. Desert name: Arabian Desert
Area: 1300000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Gulf region of Saudi Arab and Na food region
Desert type: Subtropical
4. Desert name: Gobi Desert
Area: 1040000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Mongolia and China
Desert type: Cold Desert
5. Desert name: Kalahari Desert
Area: 5200000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Botswana
Desert type: Subtropical
6. Desert name: Taklamakan Desert
Area: 337000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: China
Desert type: Cold Winter
7. Desert name: Sonoran Desert
Area: 310000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Mexico (US) in North and South America
Desert type: Subtropical
8. Desert name: Karakum Desert
Area: 270000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Turkmenistan
Desert type: Cold winter
9. Desert name: Thar Desert
Area: 260000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Northwest India and Pakistan
Note: It is the most populous desert
Desert type: Subtropical
10. Desert name: Somali Desert
Area: 260000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Somalia in Africa
11. Desert name: Atacama Desert
Area: 180000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Northern Chile in South America
Note: It is the driest desert of the world.
Desert type: Mild Coastal
12. Desert name: Kalkulam Desert
Area: 180000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
Desert type: Cold Desert
13. Desert name: Dust-i-lut Desert
Area: 52000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Eastern Iran
Desert type: Subtropical
14. Desert name: Mojave Desert
Area: 35000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: South California
Desert type: Subtropical
15. Desert name: The Sito De Sechura Desert
Area: 26000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Piura region in Northwest Peru in South America
Desert type: Coastal
16. Desert name: Patagonian Desert
Area: 673000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Argentina and Chile
Note: It is a cold desert
Desert type: Cold winter
17. Desert name: Antarctica Desert
Area: 14,200,000 sq. km
Extension of the Desert: Antarctica
Note:
- It is a polar desert.
- It is the largest desert in the world.
Desert type: Cold Desert