Deserts cover about one-seventh of the earth's land surface. 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.
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 and temperate deserts.
Some of the most important deserts in the world as shown in the world desert map are as follows:
Sahara Desert : Sahara, the largest desert in the world, occupies an area of 8,600,000 square km and comprises almost the whole of North Africa. Sahara desert is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean; on the north by the Atlas range of mountains and the Mediterranean; on the east by the Red Sea; and on the south by a vast zone of unmoving sand dunes.
Arabian Desert : Occupying almost the whole of the Arabian Peninsula and covering an area of about 2,300,000 square km, this desert is spread in Saudi Arabia. To its southwest is Yemen; Oman lies on its eastern edge; Jordan in the northwest; and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar form its northern limit along the southern coastline of the Persian Gulf.
Great Sandy Desert : A vast wasteland in northern Western Australia, the Great Sandy desert extends from Eighty Mile Beach on the Indian Ocean eastward into Northern Territory and from Kimberly Downs southward to the Tropic of Capricorn and the Gibson Desert.
Thar Desert : Occupying about 200,000 square km, the Thar Desert is a vast tract of sand hills covering the Indian state of Rajasthan and parts of Pakistan. The barrenness of the area is mainly attributed to the dryness of the seasonal monsoon winds which do not bring enough rain to make the region moist and wet.
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