--- title: "Largest Deserts, the 10 biggest deserts on earth | Wimup" description: "The ten largest deserts on earth, polar ones included, ranked by area, with the gateway town a traveller uses for each." url: https://wimup.com/deserts type: Themed list updated: 2026-10-26 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Largest deserts, where the map runs dry. By Wimup desk · 10 picks · 2 films · ≈ 3 min read The 10 largest deserts on earth, ranked by area with the two polar ones at the top, and the town or road a traveller actually uses to reach each. We ranked these ten by area, using the figures the standard desert tables publish, so the two polar deserts lead: a desert is defined by how little rain falls, not by sand or heat. Each pick names the gateway a visitor uses, from an expedition port to a sealed highway. ## Largest deserts, where the map runs dry. ### 1. Antarctic Desert, Antarctica Antarctic Peninsula · Antarctica 14.2 million km² of ice, the largest desert on earth by a wide margin and the driest continent. Most expedition ships sail from Ushuaia between November and March, crossing the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. - **Area:** 14,200,000 km² - **Type:** Polar - **Gateway:** Ushuaia Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/ushuaia.md) ### 2. Arctic Desert, Svalbard Svalbard · Norway 13.9 million km², a polar desert across the far north of Europe, Asia and North America. Svalbard is the easiest corner to reach: scheduled flights from Oslo and Tromsø land at Longyearbyen, where tundra and glaciers start at the edge of town. - **Area:** 13,900,000 km² - **Type:** Polar - **Gateway:** Longyearbyen Links: [Norway guide](https://wimup.com/country/norway.md) ### 3. Sahara, Morocco Draa Valley · Morocco 9.2 million km², the largest hot desert on earth, spread across North Africa. From Ouarzazate the road south follows the Draa valley to M'Hamid, the last town before the dunes of Erg Chigaga. - **Area:** 9,200,000 km² - **Type:** Subtropical - **Gateway:** Ouarzazate Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/ouarzazate.md) ### 4. Arabian Desert, United Arab Emirates Liwa · United Arab Emirates 2.33 million km², nearly the whole Arabian Peninsula, and home to the Rub' al Khali, the Empty Quarter. Liwa Oasis is about 250km and two and a half hours from Abu Dhabi, with Moreeb Dune, the tallest in the UAE, 25km beyond it. - **Area:** 2,330,000 km² - **Type:** Subtropical - **Gateway:** Abu Dhabi Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/abu-dhabi.md) · [Watch the Abu Dhabi film](https://wimup.com/watch/abu-dhabi.md) ### 5. Great Australian Desert, Australia Australian Outback · Australia 1.37 million km², the figure Geoscience Australia gives for the country's ten named deserts together, 18% of the mainland. The Great Victoria is the largest of them, and the Ghan leaves Adelaide for Alice Springs straight through the arid heart. - **Area:** 1,371,000 km² - **Type:** Subtropical - **Gateway:** Adelaide Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/adelaide.md) · [Watch the Adelaide film](https://wimup.com/watch/adelaide.md) ### 6. Gobi Desert, Mongolia Ömnögovi · Mongolia 1.3 million km² across Mongolia and northern China, a cold desert of gravel plains more than sand. Fly from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad, then drive about 180km with a hired vehicle or a tour to the dunes of Khongoryn Els. - **Area:** 1,295,000 km² - **Type:** Cold winter - **Gateway:** Dalanzadgad Links: [Mongolia guide](https://wimup.com/country/mongolia.md) ### 7. Kalahari Desert, Namibia Kalahari · Namibia 900,000 km² of red sand and grass across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, dry enough to count as desert but green after summer rain. The Namibian side and its lodges are a few hours by road south and east of Windhoek. - **Area:** 900,000 km² - **Type:** Subtropical - **Gateway:** Windhoek Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/windhoek.md) ### 8. Patagonian Desert, Argentina Chubut · Argentina 673,000 km², the largest desert in Argentina, a windswept steppe in the rain shadow of the Andes. Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast is the usual base, for Península Valdés and the empty roads inland. - **Area:** 673,000 km² - **Type:** Cold winter - **Gateway:** Puerto Madryn Links: [Argentina guide](https://wimup.com/country/argentina.md) ### 9. Syrian Desert, Jordan Eastern Badia · Jordan 500,000 km² of stony plain shared by Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Jordan is the side to visit: Qusayr Amra, a UNESCO-listed Umayyad bathhouse with painted halls, stands about 85km east of Amman on the road to Azraq. - **Area:** 500,000 km² - **Type:** Subtropical - **Gateway:** Amman Links: [Jordan guide](https://wimup.com/country/jordan.md) ### 10. Great Basin Desert, United States Nevada · United States 492,000 km², mostly in Nevada and Utah, a cold desert of basins and mountain ranges. Great Basin National Park, by the village of Baker, has Lehman Caves and bristlecone pines more than 4,000 years old; Salt Lake City is about 230 miles east. - **Area:** 492,000 km² - **Type:** Cold winter - **Gateway:** Baker Links: [United States guide](https://wimup.com/country/united-states.md) ## FAQs ### What is the largest desert in the world? The Antarctic Desert, at about 14.2 million km². A desert is defined by low precipitation, not heat, so the ice sheet counts. The Sahara, at about 9.2 million km², is the largest hot desert. ### Why are Antarctica and the Arctic counted as deserts? Both receive very little precipitation, which is what makes a desert. Most of what falls is snow that never melts, so the ice builds up over time even though the air is dry. ### Why do desert areas differ between sources? Deserts have no hard edges, and sources draw the boundary in different places. We use the figures the standard desert tables publish; the order of the top ten is the same in most of them. ### What is the Great Australian Desert? The standard tables count Australia's ten named deserts as one, about 1.37 million km² according to Geoscience Australia. The largest single desert among them is the Great Victoria, at about 348,750 km². ### Which of these deserts is easiest to visit? The Arabian Desert from Abu Dhabi and the Sahara from Ouarzazate need no expedition: a paved road reaches the dunes. Antarctica is the hardest, by expedition ship from Ushuaia in the southern summer. ## Sources - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.