World Desert Map

The world Desert map the distribution of the continental landmasses on the surface of the Earth.

Deserts cover about one-seventh of the earth's land surface, the world desert map tells us. Desert regions cover 35% of the earth's surface. Deserts have been classified into sub-tropical desert, cold winter and the cool coastal deserts of the world. From the desert world map, it can be learned that Sub-tropical deserts lie between 15 and 30' latitude. They are centered along the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Deserts are landscape forms or regions that receive little precipitation. They are cold at night and since the desert air is dry it holds little moisture. Desert regions receive an average annual precipitation of less than 250 mm (10 inches). World desert maps, subdivide world deserts into semiarid, arid, extremely arid and rainless deserts based on the amount of total precipitation in a year.

The world desert map shows the worldwide distribution of hot and temperate deserts. A desert, despite being a vast area of land that is extremely dry with little or no vegetation, comprises of one of the major ecosystems on this planet. It supports a wide range of plant and animal species that are attuned to survive in the harsh conditions.

Nature has endowed desert vegetation with peculiar features to survive in desert climate. Some plant categories like Xerophytes do not have leaves, which help them reduce loss of water, while others have long roots (Phraetophytes) that help them fetch water from deep down the earth. Similarly, perennials and annuals have behavioral patterns that help them adapt to harsh conditions of the desert.

Although some definitions of world desert also includes areas which are too cold to support any vegetation, such as frigid deserts, the world desert map on this page, however, shows the distribution of only those areas that are conventionally termed as hot desert and temperate deserts.