How Well Do You Know The World's Deserts?
What kind of desert is the Atacama?
- Chile's Atacama Desert is classified as a cool coastal desert, as well as being the biggest one in South America.
How many types of deserts are there?
- All the deserts in the world are split into 5 categories: coastal, interior, polar, subtropical, and rain shadow.
What does the Kalahari Desert's name mean when translated from Tswana, a South African dialect?
- Though "thirst" is a fitting name for a desert, the Kalahari is actually a semi-desert, experiencing small levels of rain over the year.
Where in the world is the White Desert?
- Located in the Saharan Farafra depression, the White Desert has towering rock formations and white chalk rocks that have been whittled down by frequent sandstorms.
Which desert contains the Rub al-Khali, which is the longest expanse of unbroken sand in the world?
- Fittingly, the Rub al-Khali translates to the "empty quarter", an area stretching over 225,000 square miles.
Which desert in North America is both the largest and the hottest?
- Extending across the southwestern US and northern Mexico, this desert is around 250,000 square miles of heat and rugged terrain.
Though Canada is not known for being a desert country, what is the name given to a semi-arid location near British Columbia's Okanagan Valley?
- As the only desert region of Canada, this area is also known as the Okanagan Desert or the Nk'mip Desert by local Osoyoos First Nations people.
What is the largest desert in the world?
- Interestingly, the Antarctic Polar Desert is the largest desert on Earth and is bigger than several other deserts combined, including the Arabian, Gobi, and Sahara Deserts.
Which of the following African countries does not border on or touch the Kalahari Desert?
- The Kalahari stretches over seven countries, with Botswana holding most of the desert— but Tanzania is not one of them.
Which two countries does the Gobi Desert extend across?
- As the biggest Asian desert, China and Mongolia are home to the Gobi, which is also a rain shadow desert.
