Important Deserts of the world for Defence Exams

General Awareness sections cover up all the topics of current, financial news & static awareness. Static is a stagnant topic which doesn’t fluctuate easily. A single topic will help you for different examinations. So today, we will discuss Important deserts of the world & some interesting facts about them.

About:

Deserts are the driest part on earth. The reason of a desert being so dry is the fact that it receives very little rainfall. If compared to rainforest, deserts receive less than 300 mm a year whereas rainforest receives over 2000 mm. This clearly shows deserts receive 10% of the total rain that a rainforest gets. Another important factor of desert is the radical change of temperature from day to night. This happens because the air is so dry that heat escapes quickly at night. The temperature during the day ranges around 38°C while at night it may fall as low as -4°C. The location of the desert also influences the temperature greatly.

Here is a map showing important deserts of the world:

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List of Deserts of the world

Rank	Name	Type	Area (km²)	Location
1	Antarctica	Cold Winter	14,000,000	Antarctica
2	Arctic	Cold Winter	13,985,000	Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia
3	Sahara	Subtropical	9,000,000+	North Africa (Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara)
4	Arabian Desert	Subtropical	2,330,000	Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen)
5	Gobi Desert	Cold Winter	1,000,000	Central Asia (Mongolia)
6	Kalahari Desert	Subtropical	900,000	Southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa)
7	Great Victoria Desert	Subtropical	647,000	Australia
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 Desert	Cold Winter	492,000	United States
11	Chihuahuan Desert	Subtropical	450,000	North America (Mexico and United States)
12	Great Sandy Desert	Subtropical	400,000	Australia
13	Karakum Desert	Cold Winter	350,000	Turkmenistan
14	Colorado Plateau	Cold Winter	337,000	United States
15	Sonoran Desert	Subtropical	310,000	North America (Mexico and United States)
16	Kyzylkum Desert	Cold Winter	300,000	Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)
17	Taklamakan Desert	Cold Winter	270,000	China
18	Thar Desert	Subtropical	200,000	South Asia (India, Pakistan)
19	Gibson Desert	Subtropical	156,000	Australia
20	Dasht-e Margo	Subtropical	150,000	Afghanistan
21	Registan Desert	Subtropical	146,000	Afghanistan
22	Simpson Desert	Subtropical	145,000	Australia
23	Atacama Desert	Cool Coastal	140,000	South America (Chile and Peru)
24	Mojave Desert	Subtropical	124,000	United States
25	Namib Desert	Cool Coastal	81,000	Southern Africa (Angola and Namibia)
26	Dasht-e Kavir	Subtropical	77,000	Iran
27	Dasht-e Loot	Subtropical	52,000	Iran

Some Interesting Facts:

The world’s largest desert is Antarctica.
The original meaning of the word desert is 'an abandoned place'.
Around one third of the Earth's surface is covered in deserts.
Many of the ice-free regions of the Arctic and Antarctic are known as polar deserts.
Only around 20% of the deserts on Earth are covered in sand.
The largest cold desert on Earth is Antarctica & the largest hot desert is Sahara.
The Sahara Desert is in northern Africa, spanning 11 different countries.
The Atacama Desert is in South America and is known as the driest place in the world. Even after this 1 million people are staying there.