What is the largest desert in the world? Interesting facts about the largest desert. This is interesting: The Sahara is not the largest desert in the world The longest desert in the world
Deserts are natural areas characterized by flat surfaces and little or no flora. They often contain quite specific fauna. Deserts can be sandy, rocky, clayey or saline. Snow (Arctic) ones are distinguished separately. There are nine types based on the nature of soil and soil, and three based on dynamic precipitation.
Sahara
Which one is the most big desert in the world? There are many of them on the planet. But there are not so many really large ones among them. And the largest desert in the world is the Sahara. It is located in the north - more than 8.5 million square meters. km. This is almost 1/3 of the continent. Despite the harsh conditions, approximately 2.5 million people live on its territory. But still, the population density there is the lowest on earth. The main peoples living on its territory are Berbers and Tuaregs.
Age of the Sahara Desert
Few people know that this desert is much “younger” than many people believe. It is generally accepted that the Sahara is five and a half thousand years old. Scientists have found that 6,000 years ago this desert “lived” - it had trees, gardens and a lot of lakes. But over time she changed. According to the latest research by the scientific community, the majority is inclined to believe that the Sahara “desertified” only 2.7 thousand years ago.
Territorial highlights
There are several states on the territory of the Sahara - Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Chad, Niger, Sudan and Research shows that the desert territory is unstable. It is constantly changing. Data from satellites have been obtained that the Sahara periodically increases or decreases.
Curious facts about the Sahara
In some places in this desert during the day you can fry eggs on the hot sand, and at night right there the thermometer can drop to minus ten. Therefore, in past centuries, trade caravans moved through the desert exclusively at night, and during the day they pitched tents and rested.
In addition to the usual information about the Sahara, there are many interesting facts. It also has one more feature - this is one of the few rare places on the planet where evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation: in the ratio from 2000 to 5000 mm/100 mm.
There is a huge underground lake under the Sahara, which is even larger than Baikal, and the oases exist precisely because of it. There is not so much sand in the desert - only 1/5, and the rest of the territory is occupied by rocky land, and very little - sand and pebbles and simple
The desert sand cover is approximately 150 meters deep, and the largest sand dunes are similar in height to the Eiffel Tower. And if all of humanity is going to scoop up the sand of the Sahara, then each of them will have over 3 million buckets.
Strong winds constantly blow in the desert. There are only twenty calm days in the entire year. Khamsin is one of the most famous winds in the desert, translated as "fifty", which refers to how quickly it blows. Interestingly, this coincides with the Egyptian wind season, which lasts the same number of days.
Mirages
The largest desert in the world has an interesting phenomenon - mirages, which were previously considered to occur anywhere, but it turns out that they have a permanent location. And today there is even a special map on which they are plotted.
What’s also interesting is what comes with it. Full description mirage in this place - a palace, a well, a mountain range, an oasis, a palm grove. Each of them is basically permanent. Every year there are up to 160 thousand of them. Mirages can have several options - wandering, vertical, stable and horizontal.
Flora and fauna of the Sahara
The plants here are mainly subshrubs and shrubs. On the south side there are ephemeroids and ephemera. Animals move quickly, with the ability to dig sand (having hair brushes, claws, and bristles on their paws).
The largest desert on earth is famous for a place called Death Valley. It is considered the hottest and driest place on earth.
Despite the harsh living conditions, the Sahara is home to many species of flora and fauna: 545 plants, 12 amphibians, 13 fish (in oasis lakes), and more than 80 mammals and reptiles.
The largest deserts in the world: captivating and dangerous
The Sahara is not the only large desert in the world; there are others almost equal to it. There are nine more large deserts on our planet. All of them are smaller in area than the Sahara, but in relation to the others they are much larger. On every continent there is a similar representative of the area.
The largest desert in the world after the Sahara is the Arabian. Its territory is 2,330,000 square meters. m. And she captures the territory of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan and Syria. This desert is mostly uninhabited due to strong winds and sandstorms, and the temperature fluctuations here are quite large. An egg can fry in sand in just 10 minutes. And at night even the stones crack due to the cold.
The Gobi Desert is located in the lands of China and Mongolia. Bert originated from the Altai mountains. Its territory is 166,000 square meters. km. If you translate its name, it will sound like “waterless place.”
The Australian desert is the next largest desert on the planet by area (647,000 sq. km). It is here that you can find the famous red dunes, whose height reaches 40 meters.
Kalahari means “tormenting”. Its territory is 600 thousand square meters. km. But its area is constantly increasing, capturing the territories of Botswana, Angola, Zambabwe and Zambia.
Karakum means “black sands”. Its territory is 350 thousand square meters. km. The height of the ridges can reach 60 meters. This desert is located over most of Turkmenistan. Due to the shallow vegetation that predominates there, local residents adapted it as a pasture for livestock.
Taklamakan is located in Central Asia, its territory is 337,600 square meters. km. There in 2008 not only very low temperatures were observed, but even snowfall!
Many people wonder which desert is the largest among the salt deserts? To this we can answer that Salar da Uyuni is considered the greatest in the world. On its territory, salt amounts to billions of tons. And the passing rains, dissolving it, turn the desert into a huge mirror.
The Atacama is the largest desert in Chile. This is the driest place on earth. The plants, however, were able to adapt, developing their own ways of surviving in this place. During drought, they even refuse the functions of reproduction and growth.
Antarctica is the largest desert in the world made of ice. Its area is over 14 million square meters. km. And surprisingly, this particular desert is considered the driest place on the planet. There is an explanation - all the moisture is “dried up” by the cold, and precipitation here does not exceed 4 cm per year. And the year 1983 was marked by its lowest temperature - 89 degrees Celsius.
This time we will talk about the largest deserts in the world, which amaze with their length and grandeur. People have always associated the desert with something large-scale, powerful and mysterious. Many ancient civilizations were buried under sandy valleys. How many secrets man still has to learn, hidden from view in the endless latitudes!
The largest deserts in the world
Antarctica
Antarctica is the only desert on the planet that consists of layers of ice and snow. The total area of Antarctica is 14,107,000 square kilometers. Despite the presence of large volumes of frozen water, Antarctica is recognized as one of the driest places on the planet. The severe frosts in this region “dry up” all possible moisture that is located in the territory. The amount of snowfall in Antarctica is no more than 4 centimeters per year. The lowest temperature in Antarctica was recorded relatively recently - in 1983. Then the temperature dropped to 89 degrees below zero Celsius.
Atacama
This great desert is the official territory of Chile. The title of “The driest desert on the planet” belongs to Atakema. Due to drought, each plant that is able to survive in such extreme conditions has a unique structure and has developed special mechanisms for existence. Most plants in this desert, during the driest periods, are able to stop their growth and reproduction for some time.
Salar de Uyuni
This great salt desert is located in Bolivia. According to expert research, the amount of salt in the desert is about 10 billion tons. Salt dissolved during rain turns the desert into a real giant salt “mirror”. Seeing such a spectacle with your own eyes is worth a lot. Salty water at the moment the sun's rays hit it, thanks to a different refractive index, it achieves a specular effect. In sunny weather, a person can easily see his reflection under his feet.
Kalahari
Translated from Berber, the name of the desert “Kalahari” is translated as “tormenting”. This desert is majestic in its size. Its possessions start from Botswana and Nambia, and end in the territory of the Republic of South Africa. The area of the entire desert is 600,000 square kilometers. Moreover, because of this natural phenomenon, like alluvium, the size of the Kalahari is constantly increasing, while selecting new areas of civilization. Among the countries affected by the expansion of the Kalahari are Zimbabwe, Angola and Zambia.
Desert of Australia
Everyone knows that Australia is famous for its kangaroos, koalas and endless beaches. But few people imagine that almost half of the Australian continent is occupied by desert, seemingly consisting of many small arid areas, with a total area of 647,000 square kilometers. The word “desert” is associated in our minds with a lot of sand, but here again the Australian deserts stand out among others. In addition to sand, in wild desert areas you can also find vast stone spaces consisting of gravel. Even the color of ordinary sand in sandy areas has an unusual red tint. The Australian desert is famous for its red dunes, which are visited by thousands of tourists every year. The height of some red dunes is more than 40 m.
Gobi
This desert is located in China and Mongolia. The seemingly endless expanses of the Gobi Desert originate from the Tien Shan and Altai mountains and end in the steppes of Mongolia, not far from the Yellow River. The total area of the Gobi Desert is 1,166,000 square kilometers. The name of the Gobi Desert is translated from Mongolian as “waterless place.”
Arabian desert
This desert is the second largest in the world in terms of its extent. Its total area is 2,300,000 square kilometers. The Arabian Desert is located on the peninsula of the same name and lies in the territories of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. Due to strong winds that cause powerful dust storms, almost the entire desert is completely uninhabited. Also in the desert there are frequent temperature fluctuations at different times of the day. During the day, a raw egg can easily be boiled in a few minutes if you leave it on the sand under the full sun. And at night the stones literally begin to crack from the cold.
Sahara
The Sahara is the largest desert in the world, or as it is commonly called the “Queen of Deserts”. The desert area is 9,065,000 square kilometers. Its dimensions are only slightly smaller total area all of the United States of America combined. The Sahara Desert is located in northern Africa and covers the territories of the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Niger, Morocco, Sudan and Chad. The Sahara is famous for its mirages, as up to 200 thousand cases of their appearance are observed during the year. Special maps have even been developed for tourists, which indicate areas where mirages are likely to appear.
01/6/2020 at 22:00 · VeraSchegoleva · 320
Top 10 largest deserts in the world - the sand giants of our planet
Thousands of kilometers of sand, scorching heat, cacti - this is roughly how we imagine a desert. However, in reality, everything is somewhat different: there can be hundreds of thousands of kilometers of sand, and instead of heat there can be cold.
Want to know the name of the largest desert in the world? We present to your attention a list of 10 major desert places Earth. Some record holders will surprise you.
10. Western US Desert (North America), 492,000 km²
Large swimming pool(as this desert is called) covers most of Nevada, as well as parts of Utah, Oregon, Idaho and California. As a rule, it eastern border are the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, and the western edge is formed by the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, which create a rain shadow over much of the Great Basin, preventing many Pacific storms from entering the region.
The northern and southern boundaries, depending on how they are defined, range from the Snake River Plain in the north to the Mojave Desert in the south. Surprisingly, at high altitudes there are forests that include the longest living organisms on earth - the Great Basin pines, which can live 4,900 years.
Humans have long been part of the Great Basin ecosystem. Evidence of Native American habitation has been found for a long time and dates back more than 10,000 years. These people lived in small groups, growing corn and squash, and hunting and gathering pine nuts and crickets.
European explorers and trappers crossed Big Pool in the 1700s, but settlers did not begin arriving until the early 1800s. Mining towns boomed and faded from the 1870s to the 1930s as gold, silver and copper were sought.
9. Syrian Desert (Eurasia), 520,000 km²
A huge stretch of mostly barren land covering parts of four countries: Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Few plants and animals of the Syrian desert are of a type that can withstand the subtropical climate. The nomads raise sheep and camels and move seasonally from one region to another across political boundaries in search of pasture.
IN Syrian empty phosphates, oil and butane gas were discovered, and a modern network of automobile and railways makes desert exploitation much easier than before.
8. Great Victoria Desert (Australia), 647,000 km²
Great Victoria Desert forms one of nine distinct landscapes in the management region natural resources Alinytjara-Vilurara. It is the largest desert in Australia, spanning over 700 kilometres.
This pristine desert includes red sand dunes, rocky plains and dry salt lakes. There are no lakes or other surface water, but even within this landscape there are Aboriginal communities in Oak Valley, Watarru and Walalkara who are accustomed to surviving in such conditions.
7. Patagonian Desert (South America), 673,000 km²
Once covered with dense forest, Patagonia desert has become a harsh and windy landscape covering 673,000 square kilometers in southern Argentina and Chile.
It is characterized by plains, grassy steppes and rocky foothills. Vegetation in the Patagonian desert is rare, with the exception of a few species of grasses and shrubs that have evolved to adapt to the harsh conditions.
6. Kalahari Desert (Africa), 900,000 km²
Although Namibia is better known for being the home of the Namib Desert, it should be remembered that most of eastern and southern Namibia is covered by another desert - Kalahari.
The Kalahari is an unusual desert because it rains too much, but it is actually a fossil desert. So don't expect to find tall sand dunes: the landscape is completely different.
Kalahari Desert, or Kgalagadi, as it is called in Botswana, extends over 7 countries - Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In Namibia it is called a "desert" mainly because its porous sandy soils cannot retain surface water, but in some areas annual rainfall can reach 250mm, providing a lush cover of grass in good years.
Because the Namibian Kalahari Desert is covered with trees, rivers and fossil streams, a huge variety of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, plants and insects thrive here.
5. Gobi Desert (Eurasia), 1,300,000 km²
Gobi is a large desert region in the north and south. Gobi desert basins are limited Altai mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia in the north, the Tibetan plateau in the southwest and the North China Plain in the southwest.
The word Gobi in Mongolian means "desert". It consists of several distinct ecological and geographic regions based on changes in climate and topography.
The desert is best known as part of the great Mongol Empire, where there were several important cities along the Silk Road.
4. Desert of the Arabian Peninsula (Eurasia), 2,330,000 km²
Spreading across the Arabian Peninsula, the imposing beauty of the vast plateaus, hilly sand dunes and high mountain ranges Arabian desert, she can amaze with her mysterious charm.
The Arabian Desert is buzzing with life and activity: often ignored by tourists, this vast piece of land, stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and from Oman to Jordan, promises a remarkable collection of its own wildlife and dramatic scenery that rivals the best of African safaris.
With an ecosystem uniquely adapted to extreme conditions, one can witness some of nature's most stunning creatures found only in the hidden corners of the Arabian Desert.
From rare sightings of sand cats in Oman and dueling Nubian ibex in Jordan, to the Egyptian vultures of Saudi Arabia.
3. Arctic desert (Arctic), 2,600,000 km²
It is a cold desert because it receives very little rainfall - about the same as the Sahara - but it is so cold that snow covers the ground and forms ice.
Most heavy snowfalls occur at temperatures just below freezing (-10°C or above), as warmer air can hold more water vapor. The very cold arctic air is unable to hold much moisture, so it doesn't rain or snow often, which is what this place does Arctic desert.
2. Sahara Desert (Africa), 9,100,000 km²
Sahara Desert extends over most of the territory North Africa and covers more than 9,000,000 square kilometers (about the same as the United States).
In fact, the Sahara covers about 30% of the entire African continent. It is the hottest place in the world with summer temperatures that often exceed 57 degrees Celsius.
There is between 0 and 25 millimeters of rainfall per year and it is very windy, with hurricanes blowing sand up to 1,000 meters high and constantly moving the sand dunes.
1. Antarctic Desert (Antarctica), 13,829,430 km²
The words "polar" and "desert" may seem contradictory, but that's only because most of us associate the latter with sun-drenched, sand-covered landscapes.
However, desert actually describes any deserted area of land that is arid and without vegetation - and by this definition, the Sahara in Africa is even better suited for settlement than polar deserts of Antarctica.
They cover a vast area and cover an area larger than the Sahara, Arabia, Gobi and Kalahari combined, and its aptly named Dry Valleys have not seen rain in at least 2 million years.
Sandy deserts cover about 20% of the land on Earth. These are huge lifeless spaces, on the territory of which an unprepared person is doomed to inevitable death. The largest desert, how the boundless abyss is capable of taking over, absorbing and destroying, but how devastatingly beautiful it is...
The largest desert on Earth
Sandy deserts are the hottest places on our planet. Basically, such natural areas are located in Africa, Australia and Eurasia. There are also places like salt desert Salar de Uyuni. Also, relatively large deserts can be found in America. Any schoolchild knows about the Sahara - it’s largest desert. In addition, it is also the hottest. The local temperature ranges from 15 to 58 degrees. The desert area is more than 9,000,000 square kilometers.
If the Sahara were in Russia, it would occupy half of the country's territory. Sandy name natural area mentioned above was given by the Arabs. In the Sahara today you can find about 150,000 mirages. There is even a special map with marks where you often see it – a river, a well or an oasis. The largest desert in the world extends over the territory of almost all of North Africa and occupies the area of the following countries: Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Libya, Chad, Mauritania, Egypt, Tunisia, etc. Sandstorms of the Sahara can partially reach even the territory of Europe.
The largest deserts in the world: Arabian and Gobi
Listing largest deserts in the world You can’t ignore the second largest desert – the Arabian Desert. As the name suggests, the Arabian Sand Zone is located on the peninsula of the same name. It covers Saudi Arabia, a small part of Iraq, Syria, East Jordan and Egypt. In the center of the desert is Rub'al Qali, one of the largest sand massifs on Earth. A significant part of the desert is uninhabited due to frequent storms and winds, and large temperature changes. Daily temperatures vary from 40 to 50 degrees in summer, and from 5 to 15 in winter. But there were also cases of zero temperatures.
And, of course, the no less famous zone of the Gobi sands can bear the title - largest desert. In terms of area, this natural area ranks third in the world, and first in Asia. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word for “waterless place.” The Gobi is located in Central Asia, covering Mongolia and part of China, which, in turn, is represented in the world as, practically, the biggest country in the world. The northern border of the desert can be called Mongolian steppes, southern - the Yellow River.
The largest deserts in the world, other options
It is worth briefly mentioning other major largest deserts in the world- this is Australian, which occupies almost the entire territory of the country of the same name, and there are also speculations that it is also largest island in the world; Kalahari - the largest desert in South Africa and Karakum - occupying about 4/5 of the territories of Turkmenistan. But, despite its size, any desert is an equally deadly and merciless place, such as driest desert Atacaba world in South America...
Since Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Red Sea in the east, the ever-expanding Sahara dominates much of North Africa. The Sahara has always been a mystery to people because of its vast expanses of sand. Well known as the largest hot desert in the world, the Sahara attracts thousands of tourists every year. Here is our list of the most interesting facts about the Sahara Desert.
The largest hot desert
We think of the Sahara as the largest desert in the world, but in reality it is not. The largest desert in the world is the Antarctic, and the Sahara is the largest hot desert on earth. But nevertheless, the Sahara is expanding day by day, currently covering an area of approximately 9 million sq. km. The Sahara covers large parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia, accounting for 31% of Africa.
The Sahara has a tropical climate with extreme weather conditions. Temperatures can reach 50C during the day and drop below 0C at night. In addition, the northeasterly winds of the Sahara often generate sandstorms. Half of the Sahara receives less than 250 mm of precipitation per year, and the rest receives up to 1000 mm per year. 
Mountain
Most high peak The Saharan volcano is Emi Koussi, located at an altitude of 3.41 km in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad.
Snowfall
The most amazing fact about the Sahara is that in winter the Saharan peaks are covered with snow. But the Sahara has distinct highlands and is geographically a rocky desert. However, it contains underground rivers that emerge as an oasis. Additionally, many of the Sahara's peaks are also known to be volcanic. The most popular snow-capped Atlas Mountains in the Sahara are a popular trekking destination. There is also evidence that a mega-lake existed under the Sahara at one point, covering more than 42,000 square miles.
Rivers
Flows in the desert 2 rivers - Nile and Niger, but it has impressive underground reservoirs or aquifers. There are also about 20 lakes in the Sahara, of which only one has drinking water - Chad. This is a shallow lake that constantly expands and contracts at its most southern edge Sugars.
The Sahara is home to about 1,200 plant species, which mainly include succulents, trees, shrubs and herbs. Sugar plants easily adapt to heat and drought. In addition, many varieties can survive even in salty conditions. In addition, the driest part of the Sahara, i.e. the Southern Libyan Desert, is also home to very few plant species. In the Sahara Desert there is a plant known as the Resurrection Plant that can survive over 100 years without water. The plant dries out and rolls around in the desert until it finds moist soil, and buds sprout soon after. 
Animals
The desert is home to some of the most fascinating animal species in the world. The animals that live in the Sahara Desert are unique and rarely seen anywhere else in the world. The most incredible animal species include Dromedary Camels, Dorcas Gazelle, Dung Beetles, Addax Antelope, Deathstalker Scorpio, Ostrich, Monitor Lizard, Fennec Fox, Horned Viper and more. But scientists also found evidence of river animals such as crocodiles, and they also discovered fossils of dinosaurs, Jobaria, Afrovenator, and Ouranosaurus in the Sahara Desert.
People
The Sahara's population is estimated to be less than two million, including those who live in communities close to water sources and nomadic tribes who move from place to place depending on the seasons. But scientists believe that the Sahara was once habitable and contained more population, than now. But over time, the climate of the Sahara Desert underwent dramatic changes, which led to the disappearance of many species of flora and fauna, as well as people.
The Sahara Desert was a fertile and well-watered land about eight thousand years ago. It had a well-developed grassland ecosystem and was much cooler here than it is today. Research shows that the Sahara had green and thriving vegetation that supported millions of living things, including flora, fauna and humans. 
The Sahara is an endless giant of sand dunes. And of course, many places in the Sahara have dunes, some of which rise to over 400 feet. But it's actually interesting to know that the Sahara is only 30% sand and 70% gravel. Marvelous!
