Deserts of Asia
36 deserts.
Arabian Desert
The largest desert in Asia. Contains the Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter), the largest sand de...
Gobi Desert
A cold winter desert. Temperatures range from -40C to 45C. The first dinosaur eggs were di...
Syrian Desert
A combination of steppe and true desert. Palmyra, a UNESCO site, sits in its midst. Bedoui...
Karakum Desert
The Darvaza gas crater has been burning since 1971 when Soviet scientists accidentally col...
Taklamakan Desert
The name may mean place of no return. The second largest shifting sand desert. The Silk Ro...
Thar Desert
The most densely populated desert in the world. Over 16 million people live here. Jodhpur,...
Dasht-e Kavir
The Great Salt Desert of Iran. The salt crust can be treacherously thin covering mud. Temp...
Dasht-e Lut
Recorded the highest ground temperature on Earth at 70.7C via satellite in 2005. The surfa...
Negev Desert
Means dry land in Hebrew. David Ben-Gurion retired here to make the desert bloom. The Ramo...
Wahiba Sands
A relatively small but dramatic sand desert. Dunes reach 100 m. Home to Bedouin tribes. Un...
Empty Quarter
The largest continuous sand desert on Earth. Dunes reach 250 m. One of the most oil-rich a...
Akshiqtas
Part of the vast Kazakh semi-desert steppe. Extreme continental climate. The Aral Sea disa...
Kyzylkum
The Red Sand desert. The now-shrunk Aral Sea was at its northwest edge. Gold and uranium a...
Registan Desert
A sandy desert in southern Afghanistan. The name means land of sand. Mostly uninhabited. F...
Judaean Desert
The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves here. The Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth at ...
Arabian detail
The Arabian oryx was hunted to extinction in the wild by 1972 but has been successfully re...
Thar detail
The Indira Gandhi Canal brings Himalayan water 650 km to transform desert into farmland. J...
Ulan Buh
A sand desert in Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger Badain Jaran desert system. Sand encro...
Badain Jaran
Contains some of the tallest stationary dunes on Earth, up to about 500 m high. Over 140 s...
Tengger Desert
The Shapotou desert research station pioneered sand fixation techniques used worldwide. Th...
Qaidam Basin
A high-altitude desert basin at 2,600-3,000 m. One of the most mineral-rich areas on Earth...
Kumtag Desert
Means sand mountain in Uyghur. Adjacent to the ancient city of Dunhuang. The Crescent Lake...
Karakum detail
The Darvaza gas crater has been burning since 1971 after a Soviet drilling accident. Geolo...
Rigestan
A sandy desert in southern Afghanistan. Mostly uninhabited. Extreme heat in summer. The He...
Kavir detail
The salt crust hides dangerously soft mud underneath. Caravans historically gave it a wide...
Wadi Rum
The Valley of the Moon. Lawrence of Arabia based operations here during the Arab Revolt. S...
Sinai Desert
Where Moses received the Ten Commandments according to tradition. St Catherines Monastery ...
Dhofar
The frankincense trade made this desert region wealthy for 3,000 years. The khareef monsoo...
Petra region
The Nabataeans carved Petra into sandstone cliffs 2,300 years ago. They engineered water s...
Rajasthan Desert
The Thar Desert in Rajasthan. Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer are oasis cities. The Rajasth...
An Nafud
A great sand desert in the north of the Arabian Peninsula. Famous for its red dunes colore...
Ustyurt Plateau
A clay and stone desert plateau between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. Bounded on most ...
Aralkum Desert
The youngest desert on Earth, formed on the exposed bed of the shrinking Aral Sea. Soviet ...
Gurbantunggut Desert
The second largest desert in China, filling much of the Dzungarian Basin. Mostly fixed and...
Cholistan Desert
An extension of the Thar Desert in southern Punjab, Pakistan. The dry bed of the ancient H...
Betpak-Dala
A desert plateau in south central Kazakhstan, also called the Northern Hunger Steppe. Lies...