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Tuesday 9 August 2016

Different Types of Deserts of World

  By GK Planet Team       Tuesday 9 August 2016
» A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life.
» About one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions where little precipitation occurs and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts".
» Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location.
» The deserts found on Earth are extremely diverse, each unique in their own way. The dunes of the Saharan Desert, the icy tundra of Antarctica, and the Pacific coastline of the Atacama Desert are all deserts.
» There are four different types of deserts based upon their geographic situation:
1.  Polar deserts (Ex: Arctic & Antarctic)
2. Subtropical deserts (Ex: Sahara, Kalahari, Arabian, Great Victoria etc.)
3. Cold winter deserts (Ex: Great Basin, Gobi etc.)
4. Cool coastal deserts (Ex: Namib, Atacama)
» The largest deserts in the world are polar deserts. The Antarctic Polar Desert is the largest and covers the continent of Antarctica and has a size of about 5.5 million square miles.
» The second-largest desert is the Arctic Polar Desert. It has a surface area of about 5.4 million square miles.
» Antarctica is considered the most extreme continent on earth, and is located about the South Pole. On average, it is the driest, windiest, and coldest continent on earth, while also having the highest average elevation compared to any of the other continents.
» Sahara is the third largest desert overall, and the largest “hot desert” in the world. This desert comprises most of the land in North Africa, excluding the fertile regions of Maghreb, the Atlas Mountains and the coastal region adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the desert is comprised of rocky Hamada, large land areas covered with sand dunes.
» The central part Sahara desert is termed as “hyper-arid”, and there is no vegetation growing there as a result of the virtually nonexistent precipitation. Most of the rivers are intermittent and seasonal. The major exception is the Nile, which is the chief river across the desert.
» The Arabian Desert is situated on the Arabian peninsula, and makes up parts of Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
» Both the Sahara and Arabian Deserts are known for their sand and sand dune
» The center of Arabian Desert, Rub ’al-Khali, the “Empty Quarter”, forms the largest continuous body of sand in the world.
» The Gobi is termed as a “rain shadow desert”, as it is in the lee-ward side of the Himalaya ranges which block the rain (“rain shadow”), keeping clouds from the Indian Ocean from reaching Gobi. Most of the Gobi’s surface is not sandy, but rather exposed, bare rock. It is a cold desert and snow occasionally will accumulate on its dunes.

» Kalahari is a vast, semi-arid savanna in southern Africa.  It happens to get significantly more rainfall and support more diverse life than its counterparts.
» Within the expanse of the Kalahari Desert, you will find the Central Kalahari Game Reserve – the second largest protected area for wildlife in the world

List of Deserts their types and Location (Country, Continent)

Name
Type of Desert
Location
Antarctic
Polar
Antarctica
Arctic
Polar
Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Russia
Sahara
Subtropical
Northern Africa
Arabian
Subtropical
Arabian Peninsula
Gobi
Cold Winter
China and Mongolia
Patagonian
Cold Winter
Argentina
Great Victoria
Subtropical
Australia
Kalahari
Subtropical
South Africa, Botswana, Namibia
Great Basin
Cold Winter
United States
Syrian
Subtropical
Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Chihuahuan
Subtropical
Mexico
Great Sandy
Subtropical
Australia
Kara-Kum
Cold Winter
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
Colorado Plateau
Cold Winter
United States
Gibson
Subtropical
Australia
Sonoran
Subtropical
United States, Mexico
Kyzyl-Kum
Cold Winter
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan
Taklamakan
Cold Winter
China
Iranian
Cold Winter
Iran
Thar
Subtropical
India, Pakistan
Simpson
Subtropical
Australia
Mojave
Subtropical
United States
Atacama
Cool Coastal
Chile
Namib
Cool Coastal
Angola, Namibia, South Africa

Frequently asked:
Which is the largest desert in the world?
To be considered a desert an area must have less than 250 millimeters of annual rainfall. Using that criteria, the continent of Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth. It has less than 51mm of precipitation per year and little or no vegetation. While Sahara of Africa is the Largest hot desert covered with sand dunes.
What continent is the desert in?
Two-thirds of the Australian continent is considered arid or desert, which makes the continent the driest on Earth after Antarctica. When you consider all the deserts of the world, Australia does not have the largest desert areas, but they do have the most desert areas of any continent when compared to the total continental surface area. There are 10 different deserts on the continent of Australia. 
How many deserts are there in the world?
Approximately 1/3 of Earth's land surface is a desert. There are 33 major deserts in the world that, when subdivided into smaller deserts, equal 71. Of those 71, 12 are in Africa, one is Antarctica, three are in the arctic basin, 26 are in Asia (including the Middle East), 10 are in Australia and New Zealand, 10 are in Europe, four are in North America, and five are in South America.
Is the Antarctic a desert?
A Desert is defined as a region that has less than 250 mm (10 in) of annual rainfall or precipitation. Antarctica can be classified as a desert by this definition.
What continent does not have any deserts?
Europe is the only continent without at least one desert region. To qualify as a desert, an area must receive fewer than 10 inches of annual rainfall.

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