General Knowledge / The Largest Deserts in the World

The Largest Deserts in the World
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.

The Largest Deserts in the World:
It includes all deserts above 50,000 square kilometers (19,300 sq mi) in the world.

S.No Name Type Area (KM2) Location
1 Antarctica Polar ice and tundra 14,000,000 Antarctica
2 Arctic Polar ice and tundra 13,985,000 Arctic (Alaska, Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden)
3 Sahara Subtropical 9,000,000 North Africa (Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia)
4 Australian Desert Subtropical 2,700,000 Australia
5 Arabian Desert Subtropical 2,330,000 Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen)
6 Gobi Desert Cold Winter 1,295,000 Central Asia (China and Mongolia)
7 Kalahari Desert Subtropical 900,000 Southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa)
8 Patagonian Desert Cold Winter 620,000 South America (Argentina and Chile)
9 Syrian Desert Subtropical 520,000 Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, and Syria)
10 Great Basin Cold Winter 492,000 United States
11 Chihuahuan Desert Subtropical 450,000 North America (Mexico and the United States)
12 Karakum Desert Cold Winter 350,000 Turkmenistan
13 Colorado Plateau Cold Winter 337,000 United States
14 Sonoran Desert Subtropical 310,000 North America (Mexico and the United States)
15 Kyzylkum Desert Cold Winter 300,000 Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)
16 Taklamakan Desert Cold Winter 270,000 China
17 Thar Desert Subtropical 200,000 South Asia (India and Pakistan)
18 Dasht-e Margo Subtropical 150,000 Afghanistan
19 Registan Desert Subtropical 146,000 Afghanistan
20 Atacama Desert Mild Coastal 140,000 South America (Chile and Peru)
21 Mojave Desert Subtropical 124,000 United States
22 Columbia Basin Cold Winter 83,100 United States
23 Namib Desert Cool Coastal 81,000 Southern Africa (Angola and Namibia)
24 Dasht e Kavir Subtropical 77,000 Iran
25 Dasht e Loot Subtropical 52,000 Iran


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