Deserts: Outline Map Printout
An outline map of world deserts to print.
Deserts cover about one fifth (20 percent) of the earth's land area. The desert is a harsh environment with very little rainfall and extreme temperatures; a desert is defined as a region that gets less than ten inches of precipitation per year. Because of these dry conditions, there is limited plant and animal life in deserts. Desert plants (like cacti) are not abundant; neither is animal life.
Some deserts get both very hot (during the day) and very cold (during the night, when temperatures can drop well below freezing). Some deserts, however, are always cold (for example, the Gobi Desert in Asia, and the desert on the continent of Antarctica).
Different animals live in the different types of deserts. Animals that live in the desert have adaptations to cope with the lack of water, the extreme temperatures, and the shortage of food. To avoid daytime heat, many desert animals are nocturnal; they burrow beneath the surface or hide in the shade during the day, emerging at night to eat. Many desert animals do not have to drink at all; they get all the water they need from their food. Most desert animals are small.
Desert Extremes: The biggest desert is northern Africa's Sahara Desert; it covers roughly 3,500,000 square miles (9,065,000 square kilometers). The driest deserts are the Atacama desert of northern Chile, South America, and the Lut Desert in eastern Iran; these extreme deserts get less than half an inch (about 1 centimeter) of precipitation each year - and it is from condensed fog, and not from rain.
Some of the largest deserts in the world:
Type of Desert / Name of Deserts / Location / AnimalsHot Desert / Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria, Simpson, Gibson, Tanami / Australia / bilby, dingo, kangaroo, marsupial mole, quokka, rabbit-eared bandicoot, etc.
Hot Desert / Arabian Desert / Arabian Peninsula / dromedary, dung beetle, camel, civet, Egyptian vulture, flamingo, fox, gazelle, hare, hedgehog, Arabian horse, hyena, ibex, jackal, jerboa, lesser bustard, lizard, locust, oryx, peregrine falcon, porcupine, sand cobra, scorpion, skink, veiled chameleon, viper, etc.
Hot Desert / Chihuahuan / Mexico/S.W. USA / big free-tailed bat, coyote, diamondback rattlesnake, kangaroo rat, roadrunner, vampire bat, etc.
Hot Desert / Kalahari / S.W. Africa / gazelle, gerbil, ground squirrel, hyena, jackal, meerkat, springbok, etc.
Hot Desert / Mojave / S.W. USA / bighorn sheep, coyote, desert tortoise, jack rabbit, pupfish, sidewinder, etc.
Hot Desert / Monte / Argentina, South America / armadillo, cavy, jaguarundi, puma,tinamou, tuco-tuco, etc.
Hot Desert / Sahara / North Africa / addax antelope, barn owls, cape hare, dama deer, desert hedgehog, dorcasgazelle, fan-tailed raven, Fennec fox, gerbil, horned viper, jackal, jerboa, mouse, Nubian bustard, ostrich, sand fox, shrew, slender mongoose, spiny-tailed lizard, spotted hyena, etc.
Hot Desert / Sonoran / S.W. USA, Mexico / barn owl, big free-tailed bat, black widow spider, bobcat, chuckwallas, coati, collared peccary, desert iguana, desert tortoise, dragonfly, elf owl, gila monster, kangaroo rat, pack rat, Mexican gray wolf, mule deer, pupfish, rattlesnake, red-tailed hawk, roadrunner, scorpion, sidewinder, tarantula, turkey vulture, wild burros, etc.
Hot Desert / Thar / Indian, Pakistan / dromedary, great Indian bustard, Indian spiny-tailed lizard, jackal, sandgrouse, etc.
Coastal Desert / Atacama / Peru, Chile / llama, Peruvian fox, etc.
Cold and Hot Desert / Gobi / China, Mongolia / Bactrian camel, beetles, blue hill pigeon, desert wheatear, gazelle, gecko, Mongolian gerbil, jerboa, Gobi bear, jerboa, lizards, onager, Pallas cat, Pallas sandgrouse, Przewalski horse, short-toed larks, snow leopard, wild mountain sheep, wolf, etc.
Cold and Hot Desert / Iranian / Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan / monitor lizard, onager, oryx, scorpion, etc.
Cold and Hot Desert / Namib / S. W. Africa / fringe-toed lizard, golden mole, jackal, sidewinder, viper, web-footed gecko, etc.
Cold and Hot Desert / TaklaMakan / W. China / Bactrian camel, jerboa, long-eared hedgehog, gazelle, etc.
Cold Desert / Patagonian / Argentina, South America / guanaco, lesser rhea, mara, pygmy armadillo, tuco-tuco, Patagonian weasel, foxes, puma, hawks, eagles, etc.
Cold Desert / Turkestan / Middle East / Asian tortoise, gazelle, gerbil, saiga antelope, etc.
Cold Desert / Antarctic Desert / Antarctica / Brown skua, penguins, mites, springtails, worms, etc.
Semi-arid Desert / Great Basin / USA / bighorn sheep, jack rabbit, pocket mouse, pronghorn antelope, sage thrasher, etc.