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	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 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