interesting facts about deserts

September 15, 2009 | In: Geography Facts

Some deserts are named and nicknamed things like Death Valley, “the Empty Quarter,” and “the Place from Where There is No Return” because of the lack of water there.

Sahara desert is the second largest desert in the world, after Antarctica, and the largest hot desert in the world.

The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africa’s Sahara, reaches temperatures of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) during the day.

Camels are the most well known desert animals. They are sometimes called “the ship of the desert” because they can cross the desert better than any other animal.

There are ten deserts in Australia: the Great Victoria Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Tanami Desert, Simpson Deset, Gibson Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Strzelecki Desert, Sturt Stony Desert, Tirari Desert, Pedirka Desert.

Only 3% of the Australian population live in the desert.

The Gobi can be -40Fahrenheit (-40Celsius) in winter and 104Fahrenheit (40Celsius) in summer.

The Kalahari is not really a desert but rather the world’s largest sand basin.

Ayers Rock, located in central Australia and also known by its aboriginal name “Uluru”, is the world’s largest single rock. The monolith rises over 1000 feet (318 m) from the middle of the desert, and has a circumference of about 5 miles (8 km). That’s enough rock to cover the island of Manhattan, New York, with a layer of rock over 50 stories high!