User:Favian66/sandbox

Not to be confused with Dessert.

This page is about dry terrain. For arid climate, see Desert climate. For the act of abandoning or withdrawing support, see Desertion. For other uses, see Favian66/sandbox (disambiguation).

Valle de la Luna ("Valley of the Moon") in the Atacama Desert of Chile, the world's driest non-polar desert

Sand dunes in the Rub' al Khali ("Empty quarter") in the United Arab Emirates

A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location.