10 Largest Deserts of the World.

A desert is characterized as an area whose land escape receives a significantly small amount of rainfall throughout the year. This land is mostly barren, since the dry living conditions make animal and plant life there hostile. Nonetheless it is estimated that about 1/3 of the land surface of the earth is either arid or semi-arid desert. These are classified depending on the amount of rain that falls the causes of desertification there.

10 Largest Deserts of the World.

Their prevailing temperature and by their geographical location, animals and plants that live in deserts have special adaptations to help them survive the tough and hostile environment. Similarly for many generations people have struggled to occupy desert regions as well nomads are desert dwelling groups of people, who mostly have moved

with their flocks from area to area depending on where there are grazing opportunities available. The sporadic accessibility of the oases that have enabled windows of opportunity for settled life within these deserts. Now here are the 10 Largest Desrts of the World.

1. Antarctica Desert.

With a 550,000 square miles area, Antarctica is considered as the most extreme continent on earth and is located in the South Pole. On average, it is the driest

windiest and coldest continent on earth. It also have the highest average elevation compared to any of the other continents. The entirety of antarctica is a desert with an annual precipitation of less than 200 millimetres. The temperatures are generally very cold and may drop as low as minus 89 degrees Celsius in winter and as high as around 15 degrees Celsius in the summer. At one time, in some coastal regions, for this reason there were no permanent residents. There temporary residents ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 throughout the year consist mainly of scientific researchers and their supporting crews. It is the Largest Desert of the World.

2. Arctic Desert.

At 540,000 square miles, this desert occupies the North Pole region. The Arctic desert forms the second Largest Desert of the World. globally, covering a land surface area of about 5.4 million square miles. The desert occupied parts of territories claimed or controlled by Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Precipitation generally occurs as snow and winter temperatures can drop to less than minus 40 degrees Celsius. The desert

is characterized by high winds which stir up snow creating an illusion of persistent and continuous snowfall. The

The Arctic is very vulnerable to climate change. There has been a reduction of the icebergs there. Increasingly raising concerns over Arctic ice cover shrinkage due to global warming which could have profound impacts on weather patterns globally.

3. Sahara Desert.

With 3,500,000 square miles area, this is the third largest desert overall and the most hottest desert in the world. It occupies a surface area of about 3.5 million square miles. This desert comprises most of the land in North Africa, just excluding the Fertile regions of Maghreb the Atlas Mountains and the coastal region adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the desert consists of rocky large land areas, covered with sand dunes. The land surface is constantly being changed by winds and far less. Frequently, the extremely low and rare rainfall, the central part of the desert is termed as high prairie and there is no vegetation growing there as a result of the virtually non-existent precipitation. Most of the rivers which flows through this desert are intermittent and seasonal the major exception is the Nile which is the chief River across the desert.

4. Arabian desert.

With 900,000 square miles, this desert is located in far western Asia covering most of the arabian peninsula with the land surface of about 900 thousand square miles. it covets much of yemen, the Persian Gulf Oman, Jordan and Iraq its center al-khali. The Empty Quarter forms the largest

continuous body of sand in the world. The climate is very dry while temperatures are so late between regular characteristically high heat on one end of the spectrum and seasonal nighttime freezes on the other. The annual rainfall is around 100 millimetres on average but the driest areas receive as little as 30 to 40 millimetres of rain a year.

5. Gobi Desert. 

With a 500,000 square miles area located in Asia. It covers parts of Northwestern and northern China and extends into the south of Mongolia it occupies about 500,000 square miles of land surface. The Gobi is termed as a rainshadow desert as it is in the leeward side of the Himalayan ranges which block the rain shadow keeping clouds from the Indian Ocean from reaching Gobi. Most of the gobi desert surface is not sandy but rather exposed bare rock. It is a cold desert and snow occasionally accumulates on its dunes. It is the fifth Largest Desert of the World.

6. Kalahari Desert.

With 360 thousand square miles area, this is a vast semi-arid savanna in southern Africa kalahari covers a land surface of about 360 thousand square miles. It covers some parts of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. This particular desert has large areas, which are covered with red sand without permanent surface water drainage. Seasonally dry basins or beds dry valleys and salt pans the Okavango is the only permanent river which flows to a delta in the northwest.

7. Great Victoria Desert.

With 220 thousand square miles area, the great Victoria Desert with its characteristic numerous sand hills, is the largest desert in Australia. Occupying about 220 thousand square miles, it stretches from the Gawler ranges of South Australia to the east and GoldFields region in Western Australia. Thunderstorms are very common in this desert with an average of about 15 to 20 thunderstorms per year. During winter, temperatures in the desert falls to 20 degrees Celsius, while during summer the temperature ranges from 32 to 40 degrees Celsius. Rainfall is changing from year-to-year and low overall typically ranging from 200 to 250 millimeters per annum. 

8. Patagonian Desert.

With 200,000 square miles area, this is the largest desert in the South American nation of Argentina occupying a land surface area totalling about 200,000 square miles. It is primarily located in Argentina with few parts extend into Chile, Patagonia is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Andes Mountains to the west. It is a cold desert and temperatures rarely exceed above 12 degrees Celsius and average temperature is only 3 degrees Celsius. The desert is relatively windy due to the upcoming mountain air and the rain shadow effect.

9. Syrian Desert.

With 200,000 square miles, this desert is a combination of a true desert and a stepped desert. It is located in the north of the Arabian Peninsula in Syria. It covers almost 200,000 square miles of total landmass. The desert is flat but very rocky. The landscape was formed by lava flows, emanating from volcanic activities in the region of Jebel Druze in Syria. This desert covers parts of Syria, Jordan Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

10. Great Basin Desert.

With 190 thousand square miles, the Great Basin desert is the largest desert in the United States of America. It covers the surface area of about 190,000 square miles. It's boundaries included by the Rocky Mountains to the east, the Sierra Nevada range to the west. While in the Columbia Plateau borders the desert is about to the north. This is a cold desert with precipitation of 7 to 12 inches per annum. The Climate of the desert is characterized by extremes of dry hot summers and snowy cold winters.