The Largest Deserts

The Largest Deserts

     Approximately 20% of Earth's land surface is desert. The desert soil is mainly composed of sand and dunes may be present.

    The largest desert regions of the globe are located in Africa (the Sahara) and Asia (Gobi desert).

 

1 - Antarctic Desert (Antarctica) - 14 million km ²

     It is the coldest continent, drier, with the highest average altitude and high index of high winds on the planet. The lowest temperature of the Earth (-89.2 ° C) was recorded in Antarctica. The average elevation of Antarctica is about 2000 meters. Winds with speeds of about 100 km / h are common and can last several days. Winds of up to 320 km / h have been recorded in the coastal area.

2 - Sahara Desert (Africa) - 9,000,000 km ²

    It is the largest hot desert in the world and is officially the second largest desert on Earth.Located in North Africa, has an area comparable to that of Europe. The Sahara comprises of the following countries and territories: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, and Tunisia.They live about 2.5 million people in the area of ​​the Sahara.

 

3 - Arabian Desert (Asia) - 1.3 million km ²

    The Arabian desert is located on lands of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Oman, Iraq and Yemen.

  

4 - Gobi Desert (Asia) - 1,125,000 km ²

      The Gobi Desert is a large desert located in northern China and southern Mongolia.

Gobi has the following dimensions: 1600 km from east to west and 800 km from south to north, covering an area the size of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

 

5th - Kalahari Desert (Africa) - 580,000 km ²

         The Kalahari and Kalahari Kalahari is a desert located in Southern Africa, spread across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa

 

6 - Great Sandy Desert (Australia) - 414,000 km ²

     The Great Sandy Desert extends to the northwest of Australia. It is part of a vast, flat region known as the Western Desert.

7 - Karakum Desert (Asia) - 350 000 km ²

     The Karakum Desert is located in Central Asia, Turkmenistan. The population is sparse, with an average of one person every 6.5 km ².

 

8 - Desert Taklamakan Shamo (Asia) - 344,000 km ²

    It is located in Asia, the Tarim River Basin, Central Asia, Uighur in Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.

 

9 - Desert of Namibia (Africa) - 310,000 km ²

      The Desert of Namibia is situated in Namibia and southwest Angola and forms part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park, the largest game reserve in Africa [. extends for 1600 km along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in southern Angola and Namibia. Its east-west width varies from 50 to 180 km.

 

10 - Thar Desert (Asia) - 260,000 km ²

      The Thar Desert or Great Indian Desert is an extensive region of sandy desert located in northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.