List of deserts by area
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of deserts in the world by area. It includes all deserts with an area greater than 50,000 square kilometres (19,300 sq mi).
| Rank | Name | Type | Image | Area (km²) |
Area (sq mi) |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antarctic Desert | Polar |  |
13,829,430[1] | 5,339,573 | Antarctica |
| 2 | Arctic | Polar |  |
13,726,937[2] | 5,300,000 | Alaska (United States), Canada, Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden |
| 3 | Sahara | Subtropical |  |
9,100,000+[3] | 3,320,000+ | Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara |
| 4 | Arabian Desert | Subtropical |  |
2,330,000[4] | 900,000 | Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen |
| 5 | Gobi Desert | Cold Winter |  |
1,300,000[3] | 500,000 | China and Mongolia |
| 6 | Kalahari Desert | Subtropical |  |
900,000[5] | 360,000 | Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa |
| 7 | Patagonian Desert | Cold Winter |  |
670,000[3] | 260,000 | Argentina and Chile |
| 8 | Great Victoria Desert | Subtropical |  |
647,000[2] | 250,000 | Australia |
| 9 | Syrian Desert | Subtropical |  |
520,000[2] | 200,000 | Iraq, Jordan and Syria |
| 10 | Great Basin Desert | Cold Winter |  |
492,000[2] | 190,000 | United States |
| 11 | Chihuahuan Desert | Subtropical |  |
450,000[2] | 175,000 | Mexico and United States |
| 12 | Great Sandy Desert | Subtropical |  |
400,000[2] | 150,000 | Australia |
| 13 | Karakum Desert | Cold Winter |  |
350,000[2] | 135,000 | Turkmenistan |
| 14 | Colorado Plateau | Cold Winter |  |
337,000[2] | 130,000 | United States |
| 15 | Sonoran Desert | Subtropical |  |
310,000[2] | 120,000 | Mexico and United States |
| 16 | Kyzyl Kum | Cold Winter |  |
300,000[2] | 115,000 | Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan |
| 17 | Taklamakan Desert | Cold Winter |  |
270,000[3] | 105,000 | China |
| 18 | Thar Desert | Subtropical |  |
200,000[6] | 77,000 | India and Pakistan |
| 19 | Gibson Desert | Subtropical |  |
156,000[7] | 60,000 | Australia |
| 20 | Simpson Desert | Subtropical |  |
145,000[2] | 56,000 | Australia |
| 21 | Atacama Desert | Cool Coastal |  |
140,000[2] | 54,000 | Chile and Peru |
| 22 | Mojave Desert | Subtropical | |
124,000[8][9] | 48,000 | United States |
| 23 | Namib Desert | Cool Coastal |  |
81,000[2] | 31,000 | Angola and Namibia |
| 24 | Dasht-e Kavir | Cold Winter |  |
77,000[10] | 30,000 | Iran |
| 25 | Dasht-e Lut | Cold Winter |  |
52,000[10] | 20,000 | Iran |
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Ward, Paul (2001). Antarctica Fact File/
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Largest Desert in the World". Retrieved 2011-12-27.
- ^ a b c d "Planet Earth - Basic Facts and Extremes". Retrieved 2007-10-06.[dead link]
- ^ "Arabian Desert". Retrieved 2007-12-28.
- ^ Bass, Karen (2009-02-01). "Nature's Great Events:The Okavango Delta, Kalahari Desert". press.uchicago.edu. University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ Thar Desert - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ "Interesting facts about Western Australia". landgate.wa.gov.au. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Mapping Perennial Vegetation Cover in the Mojave Desert". pubs.usgs.gov. USGS Western Geographic Science Center. 2011-06-01. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Recoverability and Vulnerability of Desert Ecosystems". http://mojave.usgs.gov/. USGS. 2006-03-03. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ a b Wright, John W. (ed.); Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac (2007 ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books. p. 456. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
