List of deserts by area

This article provides a list of deserts ranked by the total area that they cover on Earth. Only deserts greater than 50,000 km² (19,300 sq mi) are included in this ranking.

Rank	Name	Type	Area (km²)	Area (sq mi)	Location	Countries
1	Antarctic Desert	Polar ice and tundra	14,200,000	5,500,000	Antarctica	N/A
2	Arctic Desert	Polar ice and tundra	13,900,000	5,400,000	Northern America Northern Europe Eastern Europe	Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway (Svalbard and Jan Mayen), Russia (Siberia), Sweden, and the United States (Alaska)
3	Sahara Desert	Subtropical	9,200,000	3,600,000	Northern Africa Western Africa Middle Africa	Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara
4	Arabian Desert	Subtropical	2,330,000	900,000	Western Asia Northern Africa	Egypt (Sinai Peninsula), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
5	Great Australian Desert	Subtropical	1,371,000	529,000	Australasia	Australia
6	Gobi Desert	Cold winter	1,295,000	500,000	Eastern Asia	China and Mongolia
7	Kalahari Desert	Subtropical	900,000	350,000	Southern Africa	Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa
8	Patagonian Desert	Cold winter	673,000	260,000	South America	Argentina and Chile
9	Syrian Desert	Subtropical	500,000	193,100	Western Asia	Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria
10	Great Basin Desert	Cold winter	492,000	190,000	Northern America	United States (Nevada, Utah, California, and Idaho)
11	Chihuahuan Desert	Subtropical	450,000	175,000	Central America Northern America	Mexico and the United States
12	Karakum Desert	Cold winter	350,000	140,000	Central Asia	Turkmenistan
–	Great Victoria Desert	Subtropical	348,750	134,650	Australasia	Australia
13	Colorado Plateau	Cold winter	340,000	130,000	Northern America	United States
14	Sonoran Desert	Subtropical	310,000	120,000	Central America Northern America	Mexico and the United States
15	Kyzylkum Desert	Cold winter	300,000	115,000	Central Asia	Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
16	Taklamakan Desert	Cold winter	270,000	105,000	Eastern Asia	China
–	Great Sandy Desert	Subtropical	267,250	103,190	Australasia	Australia
17	Thar Desert	Subtropical	264,091	101,966	Southern Asia	India and Pakistan
18	Ogaden Desert	Tropical	200,000	77,000	Eastern Africa	Ethiopia, Somalia, and Somaliland
19	Ustyurt Plateau	Cold winter	200,000	77,000	Central Asia	Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
–	Tanami Desert	Subtropical	184,500	71,200	Australasia	Australia
–	Simpson Desert	Subtropical	176,500	68,100	Australasia	Australia
–	Gibson Desert	Subtropical	156,000	60,000	Australasia	Australia
20	Margo Desert	Subtropical	150,000	58,000	Southern Asia	Afghanistan
21	Registan Desert	Subtropical	146,000	56,000	Southern Asia	Afghanistan
22	Atacama Desert	Mild coastal	140,000	54,000	South America	Chile and Peru
23	Danakil Desert	Tropical	136,956	52,879	Eastern Africa	Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia
24	Mojave Desert	Subtropical	124,000	48,000	Northern America	United States
–	Little Sandy Desert	Subtropical	115,000	43,100	Australasia	Australia
25	Chalbi Desert	Tropical	98,000	38,000	Eastern Africa	Kenya
26	Columbia Basin	Cold winter	83,100	32,100	Northern America	Canada and the United States
27	Namib Desert	Cool coastal	81,000	31,000	Middle Africa Southern Africa	Angola, Namibia, and South Africa
–	Strzelecki Desert	Subtropical	80,250	30,980	Australasia	Australia
28	Great Salt Desert	Subtropical	77,000	30,000	Southern Asia	Iran
29	Ferlo Desert	Tropical/subtropical	70,000	27,000	Western Africa	Senegal
30	Ladakh	Cold winter	59,146	22,836	Southern Asia	India
31	Lut Desert	Subtropical	52,000	20,000	Southern Asia	Iran