World's Largest Deserts

Geography

World's Largest Deserts

The following list summarizes the world's twenty biggest deserts. Sub-tropical deserts are aligned left, and Cold-winter deserts are aligned right.

The Twenty Biggest Deserts on Earth
Deserts, Ten Largest		Area in Square Miles
Deserts, Ten Largest		World Almanac	Info Please	. Wiki
1	Sahara (Africa)	3,320,000	3,500,000	3,500,000
2	Arabian (Arabia)	900,000	1,000,000	???
3	Gobi (China)	500,000	500,000	500,000
4	Patagonian (Argentina)	260,000	260,000	???
5	Rub'al Khali (south Arabia)	250,000	250,000	250,000
6	Great Victoria (Australia)	250,000	250,000	163,900
7	Kalahari (Africa)	225,000	220,000	347,500
8	Great Basin (Nevada)	190,000	190,000	200,000
9	Chihuahuan (Mexico)	175,000	175,000	???
10	Thar (India/ Pakistan)	175,000	175,000	92,000
11	Great Sandy (Australia)	150,000	150,000	223,700
12	Kara-Kum (W. Asia)	135,000	135,000	135,000
13	Colorado (USA)	130,000	130,000	???
14	Gibson (Australia)	120,000	120,000	60,000
15	Sonoran (USA)	120,000	120,000	120,000
16	Kyzyl-Kum	115,000	115,000	115,000
17	Taklamakan (China)	105,000	105,000	140,000
18	Iranian (Iran)	100,000	100,000	???
19	Simpson/ Sturt (Australia)	56,000	56,000	66,000
20	Atacama (Chili)	?	54,000	???
	Mojave (USA)	15,000	54,000	22,000
(Subtropical deserts) (cold winter deserts)		-	-	-
50	250	100	100	100

World's Biggest Geographic Features
10 Largest Cities 10 Largest Countries 7 Largest Continents	20 Highest Mountains 20 Largest Deserts 20 Largest Islands 20 Largest Lakes 20 Longest Rivers

Disclaimer:
There are substantial differences between different sources of information. Various authors disagree about desert boundaries, and desert areas.

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This Vaughns 1-Pagers World's Twenty Largest Deserts web page was updated on 2007-03-15.