Location, History, Map, Countries, Animals, & Facts - Britannica
3 days ago · Sahara, largest desert in the world. Filling nearly all of northern Africa, it measures approximately 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from east to west and between 800 to 1,200 miles from north to south and has a total area of some 3,320,000 square miles (8,600,000 square km).
Gobi Desert | Map, Plants, Animals, & Facts | Britannica
Oct 3, 2024 · Gobi Desert, great desert and semidesert region of Central Asia that stretches across large parts of Mongolia and China. Much of the Gobi (from Mongolian gobi, meaning ‘waterless place’) is not sandy desert but bare rock.
Desert | Definition, Climate, Animals, Plants, & Types | Britannica
Sep 11, 2024 · desert, any large, extremely dry area of land with sparse vegetation. It is one of Earth’s major types of ecosystems, supporting a community of distinctive plants and animals specially adapted to the harsh environment. For a list of selected deserts of the world, see below.
Mountain ecosystem | Ecology, Flora & Fauna | Britannica
At even lower levels mountain lands grade into other types of landform and vegetation—e.g., tropical or temperate forest, savanna, scrubland, desert, or tundra. The largest and highest area of mountain lands occurs in the Himalaya -Tibet region; the longest nearly continuous mountain range is that along the west coast of the Americas from ...
Mojave Desert | Location, Map, Plants, Climate, & Facts - Britannica
The Mojave Desert occupies more than 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km) and joins the Sonoran, Great Basin, and Chihuahuan deserts in forming the North American Desert. The Mojave extends from the Sierra Nevada range to the Colorado Plateau and merges
Desert - Climate, Ecosystems, Adaptations | Britannica
5 days ago · The arid conditions of the major desert areas result from their position in subtropical regions to either side of the moist equatorial belt. The atmospheric circulation pattern known as the Hadley cell plays an important role in desert climate.
North American Desert | Climate, Flora & Fauna | Britannica
North American Desert, vast, irregular belt of inhospitable terrain that stretches north to south down the western side of the North American continent from southern Oregon and Idaho to northern Mexico. It roughly corresponds to the sheltered, and …
Sinai Peninsula | Definition, Map, History, & Facts | Britannica
Sep 20, 2024 · The Sinai Desert, as the peninsula’s arid expanse is called, is separated by the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal from the Eastern Desert of Egypt, but it continues eastward into the Negev desert without marked change of relief.
Iran - Mountains, Plateaus, Deserts | Britannica
Oct 12, 2024 · Iran - Mountains, Plateaus, Deserts: A series of massive, heavily eroded mountain ranges surrounds Iran’s high interior basin. Most of the country is above 1,500 feet (460 meters), with one-sixth of it over 6,500 feet (1,980 meters).
Thar Desert | Map, Climate, Vegetation, & Facts | Britannica
Sep 27, 2024 · Thar Desert, arid region of rolling sand hills on the Indian subcontinent. It is located partly in Rajasthan state, northwestern India, and partly in Punjab and Sindh (Sind) provinces, eastern Pakistan. It covers some 77,000 square miles (200,000 square km) of territory.