Rama SharmaA desert is an area that receives little precipitation. Deserts can be hot or cold. Most deserts are quite barren as the dry conditions are too hostile to most plant and animal life. Desert flora and fauna have special adaptations that help them survive the harsh environment. Humans also dwell in desert areas. Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world and the third largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic.
| Rank | Name | Type | Image | Area (km²) |
Area (sq mi) |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antarctica | Polar Ice and Tundra | 14,000,000 | 5,405,000 | Antarctica | |
| 2 | Arctic | Polar Ice and Tundra | 13,985,000 | 5,400,000 | Eastern Europe (European Russia) Northern America (Alaska, Canada, and Greenland) Northern Asia (Siberia) Northern Europe (Finland, Iceland, Jan Mayen, Norway, Svalbard and Sweden) |
|
| 3 | Sahara | Subtropical | 9,000,000+ | 3,300,000+ | Eastern Africa (Eritrea) Middle Africa (Chad) Northern Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara) Western Africa (Mali, Mauritania and Niger) |
|
| 4 | Australian Desert | Subtropical | 2,700,000 | 1,000,000 | Australia | |
| 5 | Arabian Desert | Subtropical | 2,330,000 | 900,000 | Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen) | |
| 6 | Gobi Desert | Cold Winter | 1,295,000 | 500,000 | Eastern Asia (China and Mongolia) | |
| 7 | Kalahari Desert | Subtropical | 900,000 | 360,000 | Middle Africa (Angola) Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia and South Africa) |
|
| 8 | Patagonian Desert | Cold Winter | 620,000 | 200,000 | South America (Argentina and Chile) | |
| 9 | Syrian Desert | Subtropical | 520,000 | 200,000 | Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, and Syria) | |
| 10 | Great Basin | Cold Winter | 492,000 | 190,000 | United States |
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