# The largest deserts in the world

The world's deserts by area, according to Wikipedia's list. Polar deserts count too: a desert is defined by lack of precipitation, not heat. Areas rounded.

- 0 votes · 19 items
- Dec 11, 2020 · A. Winkler
- https://even.best/en/l/621/the-largest-deserts-in-the-world

## Top 15

1. **Antarctic Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 14,200,000 km², polar desert. Antarctica. The largest desert of all: a desert means little precipitation, not heat.
2. **Arctic Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 13,900,000 km², polar desert. Canada, Greenland, Russia, Norway and others.
3. **Sahara** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 9,200,000 km², subtropical desert. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Sudan and others. The largest hot desert on Earth.
4. **Arabian Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 2,330,000 km², subtropical desert. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Jordan and others. Home to the Rub al Khali, the largest sand sea in the world.
5. **Great Australian Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 1,371,000 km², subtropical desert. Australia. Includes the Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami and Simpson deserts.
6. **Gobi Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 1,295,000 km², cold-winter desert. China, Mongolia. Famous for its dinosaur fossils.
7. **Kalahari Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 900,000 km², subtropical desert. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa.
8. **Patagonian Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 673,000 km², cold-winter desert. Argentina, Chile. The largest desert in the Americas.
9. **Syrian Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 500,000 km², subtropical desert. Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria.
10. **Great Basin Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 492,000 km², cold-winter desert. United States (Nevada, Utah, California, Idaho).
11. **Chihuahuan Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 453,000 km², subtropical desert. Mexico, United States.
12. **Karakum Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 350,000 km², cold-winter desert. Turkmenistan. Home to the Darvaza gas crater, the Door to Hell, burning since 1971.
13. **Taklamakan Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 337,000 km², cold-winter desert. China.
14. **Colorado Plateau** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 337,000 km², cold-winter desert. United States. Home to the Grand Canyon.
15. **Sonoran Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 311,000 km², subtropical desert. Mexico, United States. Home of the saguaro cactus.
16. **Kyzylkum Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 298,000 km², cold-winter desert. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
17. **Thar Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 200,000 km², subtropical desert. India, Pakistan.
18. **Ogaden Desert** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 200,000 km², tropical desert. Ethiopia, Somalia.
19. **Ustyurt Plateau** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — About 200,000 km², cold-winter desert. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

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