World's most impressive deserts, living in the desert

Only when hearing the word “desert” most of us will make a step back. But living longer or shorter in the desert is a challenge for many people. And about the people who permanently rule their lives in the deserts, they must be really tough indeed. I think that in the future the mankind must learn to conquer the deserts, and more and more people will live there, as the surfaces occupied by the deserts worldwide are huge.

If you simply think to the deserts as totally hostile lands or as sandy yellow uniform surfaces, you are teribly wrong. There are oasis in any deserts, and the deserts are not the same, there are huge differences between them! Some deserts are yellow, some reddish, some white, etc. I selected from the many deserts of our planet a few who are the most significant and interesting in my opinion.

1. Sahara is the world’s biggest desert, stretching in the North Africa over Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Tchad,Mali,Sudan,Mauretania and occupying more than 8 000 000 sqkm (and it is expanding). It is by far the most renowned and most researched desert worldwide. Even the word “saqqara” translated from the Arabic means desert. In Sahara there are some rainfall, nevertheless very reduced to exert an influence over the arid climate (less than a few liters yearly). There are more than 4 000 000 human beings living in Sahara, on a surface bigger than Europe’s !

Sahara is without any doubt the alfa desert of our planet

2. Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is simply unique. It lies in the Andes, on the Altiplano, and consist mainly of salt. The salt is abundant and acumulates in bigger or smaller hill. The life is imposible, and the lakes from the area have diferent colours due to salt and other minerals. Sometimes a very strange phenomenon occurs : the reflection of sky onto the salty surface.

Salar de Uyuni is an unique salty desert

3. Australia is at least on a half of it covered with deserts. Among them, the impressive red one : The Simpson Desert. I would say, its red sand and the dunes make from Simpson desert the most beautiful desert of our planet.

The australian Simpson Desert is red!

4. Antarctica is also a desert, though not a sandy one. Antarctica is simultaneously the driest and the wettest place on the Earth. On one side, due to its freezing temperature, there is no rainfall in Antarctica. On the other hand, its ice resources are huge, making from Antarctica the wettest place on the Earth. Which is your point of vue?

Antarctica is in fact an icy desert

5. The Namib desert in Southern Africa is the world’s oldest. There are some species of plants and animals living only in the Namib desert. And don’t forget to mention the elephants: Namib desert is the only one desert where you can find these animals!

The Namib desert and its elephants

6.The Atacama desert lies in Chili, and is according Guiness Book the most arid place on Earth. In Atacama there were no rainfall for centuries! The explanation is the big heights of Andes, which stops all the clouds. On the shore, due to the wet breeze, you can see wonderful flowers.

Atacama desert is the most arid place on Earth

7. The Taklamakan desert lies in the Central Asia, and the Silk Way goes by, trying to avoid it. One year ago, due to climatic changes, Taklamakan desert has been covered all over with snow. Which is pretty rare for a desert.