Contents
Deserts for any traveler or just a person who is fond of geography have been and remain one of the most mysterious phenomena in the science of the structure of the Earth.
Deserts beckon and frighten tourists. On the one hand, the harsh climate, the minimum amount of flora and fauna, the lack of developed infrastructure should repel even the most desperate adventurers. However, in addition to objective shortcomings, they have their charms, which can only be appreciated by the most sophisticated travelers.
Introducing the 10 smallest deserts on the planet: find out which arid places in the world are in this rating and what they are called.
10 Baja California desert, 77 km²
Baja California desert – a desert region in North America, which is located on the territory of the California Peninsula (Mexico). It is essentially an elongated sandy-rocky strip stretching along the coast of the peninsula with an area of 77 km².
The Baja California Desert is considered part of the Bahia Ecoregion, which is located in Mexico, specifically Baja California and Baja California Sur.
9. Great Salt Lake Desert, 55 km²
Great Salt Lake Desert – This is a large dry lake in Northern Utah (USA), located on the border of the state of Nevada. It is known for the white, evaporating salt deposits of Lake Bonneville.
Several small mountain ranges criss-cross the edges of the desert, including the Cedar Mountains, Lakeside Mountains, Silver Island Mountains, Hogup Mountains, Grass Mountains, and Newfoundland Mountains. On the western edge of the desert, just beyond the border with Nevada, stands Pilot Peak in pilot range.
The desert is cool in winter and includes unusual plants adapted to arid conditions. Much of the desert receives less than 8 inches (200 mm) of annual rainfall. The salt crust covering the desert changes every year as the rains evaporate.
The military test site in Utah is located in the northern part of the desert. The lowest part of Juab County is located south of the Dugway Test Site, about 1,5 miles (2,4 km) northwest of the northwest corner of the Fish Springs Range.
8. Deshte-Lut, 52 km²
Desert Lut, commonly known as Deshte-Lut (in Persian: “void plain“), is a large salt desert located in the provinces of Kerman, Sistan and Balochistan in Iran. On July 17, 2016, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Its sand surface has been measured at temperatures up to 70 C (159 F), making the desert one of the driest and hottest places in the world.
Iran is climatically part of the Afro-Asian desert belt that stretches from the Cape Verde Islands in West Africa to Mongolia near Beijing. The mottled, elongated, light object in the foreground (parallel to the mountain range) is the northernmost of the Dashta dry lakes, stretching south for 300 kilometers (190 miles).
In the circumtropical deserts, most of the precipitation falls on elevated areas. As a result, the desert is largely an abiotic zone.
7. Ryn-sands, 40 km²
Desert Ryn or Ryn-Sands (Kazakh: Naryn sand, Naryn-kumi) is a desert in Western Kazakhstan that extends north of the Caspian Sea and southeast of the Volga Upland.
The borders of the desert are very poorly defined. Some maps show the desert almost entirely within the Caspian depression, extending almost to the coast of the Caspian Sea, while others show it north of the depression.
It lies to the west of the Ural River between 46 north latitude and 49 north latitude and from longitude 47 east to 52 east longitude. Temperatures here can reach extremes in summer, ranging from 45 to 48 C (113 to 118 F), while in winter it can drop to a low of -28 to -36 C (-18 to -33 F).
Many small towns are scattered throughout the Rhin Desert, with population densities ranging from 1 to 15 people per square mile. Rhyn lies in a semi-arid climate zone and receives very little rainfall.
6. Owaihi, 36 km²
Owaihi – This is an arid region in the United States, the main part of which is a full-fledged desert. Owyhee is located on the southern edge of the Columbian Plateau, at the junction of the borders of the states of Oregon, Idaho and Nevada, south of the Owyhee River. The area is 36 km². This region is located at an average altitude of 000 meters above sea level.
5. Mojave, 35 km²
Mojave Desert – an arid desert rain desert and the driest desert in North America. It is located in the North American Southwest: mainly in southeastern California and southern Nevada, and covers 35 km². Smaller areas also extend into Utah and Arizona.
5. Negev, 13 km²
Negev desert (in Hebrew, more Arabic, an-Nakab) is the desert of Asia, located in the south of Israel, in the Southern District. Its name comes from the Hebrew root, which means “dry”, as in Arabic, but in Biblical Hebrew Negev also took on the meaning “south” because of the location of the desert.
The Negev Desert covers an area of about 13 km² in the shape of an inverted triangle, the southern peak of which is located in Eilat, on the Red Sea coast. In the west, it borders on the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), and in the east – on the southern part of Jordan, serving as a border with Wadi Arava.
The main city – Beersheba is located on the northern outskirts of the desert (200 inhabitants). Other important cities are Eilat in the south (on the Red Sea coast), Dimona, Mitzpe Ramon and Rahat.
4. Great Salt Desert, 77 km²
The desert is about 800 km long and 320 km wide, with a total area of about 77 km². It got its name from the salt marshes (kavirs) found there.
Climate Great Salt Desert almost no rainfall, and the region is very arid. Temperatures can reach 50 C in summer, and the average temperature in January is 22 C.
3. Judean Desert, 22 km²
Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel that extends east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It is located from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El and is marked by natural terraces with ledges.
The desert ends with a steep cliff descending to the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. The Judean Desert has many ravines, most of them deep, ranging from 1200 feet in the west to 600 feet in the east.
The Judean Desert is an area with a special morphological structure located to the east of the Judean Mountains. The main urban areas affected by this desert include Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gush Etzion, Jericho and Hebron.
Precipitation in the Judean region varies from 400-500 mm (16-20 inches) in the western hills, rising to 600 mm (24 inches) around West Jerusalem (in central Judea), dropping to 400 mm (16 inches) in East Jerusalem and decreasing to about 100 mm in the eastern parts due to the rain shadow effect.
The climate ranges from Mediterranean in the west and desert in the east, with a band of steppe climate in the middle.
1. Carcross, 2.59 km²
Desert Carcross, located outside Carcross (Yukon, Canada), is considered to be the smallest desert in the world. The area of the Carcross Desert is about 1 square mile (2,6 km²), or 640 acres.
The Carcross Desert is commonly referred to as a desert, but is actually a series of northern sand dunes. The climate of this area is too humid to be considered a real desert.
The sand was formed during the last ice age when large glacial lakes formed and silt was deposited. When the lakes dried up, the dunes were left behind. Now the sand here comes mainly from the nearby Lake Bennett. The dunes contain a wide variety of plants, including unusual varieties such as Baikal sedge (Carex sabulosa) and Yukon lupine.
The Yukon Territorial Government launched an effort to protect the Carcross Desert in 1992, but failed due to resistance from local residents who use the dunes for recreational purposes.