List of deserts by area

This is a list of the largest deserts in the world by area. It includes all deserts above 50,000 km² (19,300 sq mi).

Some of Earth's biggest non-polar deserts

Rank	Name	Type	Map	Area (km2)	Area (sq mi)	Location[note 1]	Nation(s)
1	Antarctic Desert	Polar ice and tundra		14,200,000[1]	5,500,000	Antarctica	N/A
2	Arctic Desert	Polar ice and tundra		13,900,000[1]	5,400,000	Eastern Europe Northern America Northern Asia Northern Europe	United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories), Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway (Svalbard and Jan Mayen), Russia (Siberia), and Sweden
3	Saharan Desert	Subtropical		9,200,000[1]	3,600,000	Eastern Africa Middle Africa Northern Africa Western Africa	Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara
4	Arabian Desert	Subtropical		2,330,000[1]	900,000	Middle East	Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Yemen
5	Great Australian Desert	Subtropical		1,371,000[2]	529,000	Australasia	Australia
6	Gobi Desert	Cold winter		1,295,000[1]	500,000	Eastern Asia	China and Mongolia
7	Kalahari Desert	Subtropical		900,000[1]	350,000	Southern Africa	Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa
8	Patagonian Desert	Oceanic		673,000[1]	260,000	South America	Argentina and Chile
9	Syrian Desert	Subtropical		500,000[1]	193,100	Western Asia	Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria
10	Great Basin Desert	Cold winter		492,000[3]	190,000	Northern America	United States (Nevada, Utah, California and Idaho)
11	Chihuahuan Desert	Subtropical		450,000[4]	175,000	Central America Northern America	Mexico and the United States
12	Karakum Desert	Cold winter		350,000[1]	140,000	Central Asia	Turkmenistan
–	Great Victoria Desert[note 2]	Subtropical		348,750[1]	134,650	Australasia	Australia
13	Colorado Plateau	Cold winter		340,000[4]	130,000	Northern America	United States
14	Sonoran Desert	Subtropical		310,000[4]	120,000	Central America Northern America	Mexico and the United States
15	Kyzylkum Desert	Cold winter		300,000[4]	115,000	Central Asia	Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
16	Taklamakan Desert	Cold winter		270,000[4]	105,000	Eastern Asia	China
–	Great Sandy Desert[note 2]	Subtropical		267,250[2]	103,190	Australasia	Australia
17	Ogaden Desert	Tropical		200,000[5]	77,000	Eastern Africa	Ethiopia, Somalia, and Somaliland
18	Thar Desert	Subtropical		200,000[6]	77,000	Southern Asia	India and Pakistan
19	Ustyurt Plateau	Cold winter		200,000[7]	77,000	Central Asia	Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
–	Tanami Desert[note 2]	Subtropical		184,500[2]	71,200	Australasia	Australia
–	Simpson Desert[note 2]	Subtropical		176,500[2]	68,100	Australasia	Australia
–	Gibson Desert[note 2]	Subtropical		156,000[2]	60,000	Australasia	Australia
20	Margo Desert	Subtropical		150,000[3]	58,000	Southern Asia	Afghanistan
21	Registan Desert	Subtropical		146,000[3]	56,000	Southern Asia	Afghanistan
22	Atacama Desert	Mild coastal		140,000[4]	54,000	South America	Chile and Peru
23	Danakil Desert	Tropical		136,956[8]	52,879	Eastern Africa	Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia
24	Mojave Desert	Subtropical		124,000[3]	48,000	Northern America	United States
–	Little Sandy Desert[note 2]	Subtropical		115,000[2]	43,100	Australasia	Australia
25	Chalbi Desert	Tropical		98,000[5]	38,000	Eastern Africa	Kenya
26	Columbia Basin	Cold winter		83,100[3]	32,100	Northern America	Canada and the United States
27	Namib Desert	Cool coastal		81,000[3]	31,000	Middle Africa Southern Africa	Angola, Namibia, and South Africa
–	Strzelecki Desert[note 2]	Subtropical		80,250[2]	30,980	Australasia	Australia
28	Dasht-e Kavir	Subtropical		77,000[3]	30,000	Western Asia	Iran
29	Ferlo Desert	Tropical bordering on Subtropical		70,000	27,000	Western Africa	Senegal
30	Ladakh Desert	Cold winter		59,146[3]	22,836	Southern Asia	India
31	Dasht-e Lut	Subtropical		52,000[3]	20,000	Western Asia	Iran

See also

• Desert
• Desertification
• List of deserts by continent
• Polar desert
• Tundra
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Notes

1. As per the United Nations geoscheme.
2. A part of the Great Australian Desert.