Subtropical Deserts
35 deserts.
Sahara
The largest hot desert. Almost as large as the United States. Summer highs regularly excee...
Arabian Desert
The largest desert in Asia. Contains the Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter), the largest sand de...
Great Victoria Desert
The largest desert in Australia. A sandy desert with grasslands. Indigenous people have li...
Syrian Desert
A combination of steppe and true desert. Palmyra, a UNESCO site, sits in its midst. Bedoui...
Chihuahuan Desert
The largest desert in North America. Has more cactus species than any other desert. The bo...
Karakum Desert
The Darvaza gas crater has been burning since 1971 when Soviet scientists accidentally col...
Sonoran Desert
The most biodiverse desert in the world. The saguaro cactus can live 200 years and grow 15...
Thar Desert
The most densely populated desert in the world. Over 16 million people live here. Jodhpur,...
Mojave Desert
Death Valley, the hottest place on Earth, is here. Joshua trees are unique to this desert....
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...
Gibson Desert
Named after Alfred Gibson who died exploring it in 1874. Mulga scrubland dominates. The Pi...
Tanami Desert
One of the most remote and inaccessible areas on Earth. The Tanami Track is 1,000 km of di...
Great Sandy Desert
The second largest desert in Australia. Contains the Wolfe Creek meteorite crater, 880 m a...
Sahara detail
The Sahara was green during the African Humid Period 11,000-5,000 years ago. Rock art show...
Death Valley
The hottest place on Earth at 56.7C recorded in 1913. The lowest point in North America at...
Sahara West
The Saharan silver ant forages at surface temperatures up to 70C for only 10 minutes at a ...
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...
Mojave detail
The Desert Tortoise can survive a year without drinking water. Creosote bush rings in the ...
Baja Desert
The Baja California peninsula desert. Boojum trees look like upside-down carrots. The card...
Monte Desert
East of the Andes in Argentina. Receives only 50-200 mm of rain. The Andes rain shadow cre...
Gibson detail
The last Aboriginal people to make contact with modern civilization emerged from here in 1...
Little Sandy Desert
South of the Great Sandy Desert. Similar red dune fields. Very remote - no sealed roads cr...
Strzelecki Desert
Named after Polish explorer Paul Strzelecki. Red sand dunes and gibber plains. The Cooper ...
Karakum detail
The Darvaza gas crater has been burning since 1971 after a Soviet drilling accident. Geolo...
Kavir detail
The salt crust hides dangerously soft mud underneath. Caravans historically gave it a wide...
Rajasthan Desert
The Thar Desert in Rajasthan. Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer are oasis cities. The Rajasth...
Sahara detail 2
The Sahara pumps 27 million tons of dust across the Atlantic to the Amazon each year, fert...
Chihuahuan detail
More than 400 cactus species. The Mexican prairie dog is endangered. The bolsón of Mapimà ...
Libyan Desert
The northeastern part of the Sahara and one of the driest places on Earth. Contains the Gr...
Nubian Desert
Lies east of the Nile between the river and the Red Sea in northeastern Sudan. A rocky san...
Cholistan Desert
An extension of the Thar Desert in southern Punjab, Pakistan. The dry bed of the ancient H...
Colorado Desert
The western subdivision of the Sonoran Desert in southeastern California. Includes the Sal...