The five largest deserts in the world

05.11.2024

In the following article we will introduce the five largest deserts in the world. Many people imagine deserts as inhospitable areas full of sand dunes, but this is not always the case. The diversity of the surface of individual deserts is enormous and in total occupies a third of the planet's landmass. Many will be surprised that the Sahara is only in third place.

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Antarctic polar desert

It occupies the vast majority of Antarctica and with an area of ​​14.2 million square kilometers it is the largest desert in the world. In terms of area it will surpass the Sahara Gobi and Arabian deserts together. Extremely strong winds blow in the desert area which combined with the arid environment can form hypersaline lakes. The Vanda and Don Juan lakes for example are worth mentioning as they contain ten times more salt than sea water. A number of expeditions led by Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott have visited Antarctica over the years.

Arctic polar desert

This desert includes the northern edges of our planet and with an area of ​​less than fourteen million square kilometers it is the second largest desert in the world. Like the Antarctic desert there are low temperatures and a lack of precipitation. The Arctic desert has surprisingly become home to a wide variety of animals and plants including arctic fox, polar wolf, polar bear, caribou, owl and snow moose. Some animals migrate between the desert and arctic tundra where there is more vegetation. The Arctic desert is located on the territory of seven countries.

Sahara

The most famous desert in the world is undoubtedly the Sahara. It is a subtropical desert in the territory of Africa which extends into twelve countries and covers most of North Africa. With its area of ​​nine million two hundred thousand square kilometers it ranks third. It rains very little here but it hasn't always been like that. Every 20,000 years savanna grasslands alternate with desert. It is believed that the entire area was fertile until five thousand years ago. At that time there was ten times more rainfall than now. The entire cycle is caused by the wobble of the Earth's axis which affects the position of the North African monsoons. The sandy Sahara is not nearly as inhospitable as it looks. In addition to camels, cheetahs, Fennec foxes, gazelles, antelopes, red-eyed ostriches and African wild dogs live here.

Arabian desert

The largest desert in Asia and the fourth largest in the world it covers most of the Arabian Peninsula and is found in nine countries. It has a subtropical climate with consistently high temperatures and minimal rainfall. At the southern end is the world's largest unbroken sand body, the Rub' al Khali. Here too you will find animals that have found a home here. Among the most famous are the Arabian wolf, the sand gazelle, the Nubian ibex, the striped hyena, the caracal and the Arabian camel.

Gobi Desert

The second largest desert in Asia and the fifth largest in the world it covers 1.3 million square kilometers. It is found along the China-Mongolia border and includes a number of important cities along the Silk Road. The Gobi is known for being a rain shadow desert, meaning that the nearby mountain range blocks rain systems from reaching the region. In this case the Tibetan Plateau in the southwest blocks precipitation that would otherwise reach the desert region. A number of animals live here too, led by the two-humped camel, the black-tailed gazelle, the gobi bear and the snow leopard.

Source:GEOJANGO/Editorial