Deserts of the World “A...-”
for environmental, ecology, and geography educators & classrooms, travelers.

Antartica is technically the largest desert in the world because there is so little precipitation, even though about 70% of the world's fresh water is locked up there as ice.

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Arabian Desert occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula (900,000 square miles or 2,330,000 square kilometers) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; it also includes Yemen, Oman, Jordan and Iraq.

The Rub'al-Khali, one of the largest continuous bodies of sand in the world, covers the southern third of the peninsula, is also one of the most oil rich regions of the world.

The ancient of city of Iram of the Pillars is located in the Yemen area of the Rub'al-Khali.

Atacama Desert in Chile, the driest desert in the world, gets a double “rain shadow” effect from the high pressure over the Pacific to the west and Andes Mountains to the east.

The Atacama has the world's largest deposit of natural sodium nitrate, “saltpeter”, that had been mined significantly until the a synthetic nitrate was invented. Now, because of the high elevation, cloud free sky, and low population (no radio interference) several astronomical observatories are located in the Acatcama. Also the North-South Pan American Highway runs through the Atacama.

A large part of Australia is covered by deserts in the central and north-western areas of the country. They are referred to as the Outback, the most remote parts of the continent.

The Western Desert is comprised of the Gibson, Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts. Other deserts are the Great Victoria, Tanami, Simpson, Strezelecki, Sturt Stony, Tirari and Pedirka.