10 interesting facts about deserts

1. Sahara desert is the second largest desert in the world, after Antarctica, and the largest hot desert in the world.
2. Atacama is the driest place on Earth and is virtually sterile because it is blocked from moisture on both sides by the Andes mountains and by the Chilean Coast Range.
3. Sand covers only about 20 percent of Earth's deserts. Most of the sand is in sand sheets and sand seas—vast regions of undulating dunes resembling ocean waves "frozen" in an instant of time.
4. Some deserts are named and nicknamed things like Death Valley, “the Empty Quarter,” and “the Place from Where There is No Return” because of the lack of water there.
5. Camels are the most well known desert animals. They are sometimes called “the ship of the desert” because they can cross the desert better than any other animal.
6. The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africa’s Sahara, reaches temperatures of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) during the day.
7. Only 3% of the Australian population live in the desert.
8. There are ten deserts in Australia: the Great Victoria Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Tanami Desert, Simpson Deset, Gibson Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Strzelecki Desert, Sturt Stony Desert, Tirari Desert, Pedirka Desert.
9. The Kalahari is not really a desert but rather the world’s largest sand basin.
10. The Gobi can be -40Fahrenheit (-40Celsius) in winter and 104Fahrenheit (40Celsius) in summer.