The world's ten largest deserts by area, polar deserts included: Antarctica and the Arctic both outsize the Sahara.
The Antarctic Desert is the largest desert in the world, at about 14.2 million sq km. The Arctic Desert is second at about 13.9 million sq km and the Sahara Desert third at about 9.2 million sq km. The ranking uses approximate area, polar deserts included, from Wikipedia's List of deserts by area, whose figures mostly trace to the CIA World Factbook, as of October 2026.
A desert is defined by dryness, not heat. That is why the two largest deserts on Earth are the Antarctic and Arctic polar deserts, both larger than the Sahara. This ranking takes every figure from one compiled table, Wikipedia's List of deserts by area. Desert edges are drawn differently by different authorities, so the areas are approximate and are best read as a scale comparison rather than a boundary survey.
The Antarctic Desert is the largest desert on Earth at about 14.2 million sq km. Its extreme cold masks the key fact: much of the Antarctic interior receives very little precipitation.
The Arctic Desert covers about 13.9 million sq km of high-latitude land around the Arctic, across parts of Canada, Greenland, Russia, Scandinavia and Alaska. Like Antarctica, it qualifies as a desert because of very low precipitation.
The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert and the third-largest desert overall at about 9.2 million sq km. It stretches across North Africa from the Atlantic toward the Red Sea.
The Arabian Desert covers about 2.33 million sq km, most of the Arabian Peninsula. It includes some of the planet's best-known sand seas, including the Rub' al Khali.
Australia's mainland deserts together cover about 1.37 million sq km. The figure combines named deserts such as the Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami, Simpson and Gibson.
The Gobi spans northern China and southern Mongolia, covering about 1.3 million sq km. It is a cold-winter desert, with harsh winters as well as dry conditions.
The Kalahari covers about 900,000 sq km of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Parts of it receive more rainfall than classic deserts, but it remains one of the largest dryland regions.
The Patagonian Desert covers about 673,000 sq km of Argentina and Chile, making it the largest non-polar desert in the Americas. It sits in the rain shadow of the Andes.
The Syrian Desert covers about 500,000 sq km of arid steppe and desert in the Middle East, spanning parts of Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The Great Basin Desert covers about 492,000 sq km of Nevada, Utah, California and Idaho, the largest non-polar desert in the United States. It is a cold-winter desert shaped by elevation and the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada.
| # | Name | Type | Primary region | Approx. area (sq mi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antarctic Desert | Polar ice and tundra | Antarctica | 5480000 |
| 2 | Arctic Desert | Polar ice and tundra | Arctic | 5370000 |
| 3 | Sahara Desert | Subtropical | North Africa | 3550000 |
| 4 | Arabian Desert | Subtropical | Arabian Peninsula | 900000 |
| 5 | Great Australian Desert | Subtropical | Australia | 529000 |
| 6 | Gobi Desert | Cold winter | China and Mongolia | 500000 |
| 7 | Kalahari Desert | Subtropical | Southern Africa | 347000 |
| 8 | Patagonian Desert | Cold winter | Argentina and Chile | 260000 |
| 9 | Syrian Desert | Subtropical | Middle East | 193000 |
| 10 | Great Basin Desert | Cold winter | Western United States | 190000 |
Deserts are ranked by area in square kilometers, largest first, using the figures in Wikipedia's "List of deserts by area" (accessed 2026-10-18) and its rank order. Polar deserts count: the list includes the Antarctic and Arctic deserts because deserts are defined by low precipitation, not temperature. In that table most figures trace to the CIA World Factbook's list of the largest deserts; the Great Australian Desert figure (1,371,000 sq km, the combined area of Australia's mainland deserts) traces to Geoscience Australia, and the Great Basin figure traces to a secondary site cited by the table. Square-mile figures are conversions of the square-kilometer values, rounded. The Chihuahuan Desert (about 453,000 sq km) ranks 11th in the same table and is not included.
The Antarctic Desert, at about 14.2 million sq km. Polar deserts count because a desert is defined by low precipitation, not heat.
The Sahara, at about 9.2 million sq km, is the largest hot desert, but it is smaller than the Antarctic and Arctic polar deserts.
Yes. Deserts are defined by low precipitation, so polar and cold-winter deserts count even when temperatures are low.
In the source table it ranks 11th, at about 453,000 sq km, just behind the Great Basin Desert.
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