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Large, extremely dry area of land with fairly sparse vegetation.
It is one of the Earth's major types of ecosystems. Areas with a mean annual precipitation of 10 in. (250 mm) or less are generally considered deserts. They include the high-latitude circumpolar areas as well as the more familiar hot, arid regions of the low and mid-latitudes. Desert terrain may consist of rugged mountains, high plateaus, or plains; many occupy broad mountain-rimmed basins. Surface materials include bare bedrock, plains of gravel and boulders, and vast tracts of shifting sand. Wind-blown sands, commonly thought to be typical of deserts, make up only about 2% of North American deserts, 10% of the Sahara, and 30% of the Arabian desert.
II
[c mediumvioletred] (as used in expressions)
Arabian Desert
Atacama Desert
desert varnish
Gibson Desert
Gobi Desert
Great Sandy Desert
Great Victoria Desert
Kalahari Desert
Karakum Desert
Libyan Desert
Mojave Desert
Mohave Desert
Namib Desert
Nubian Desert
Painted Desert
Sonoran Desert
Syrian Desert
Thar Desert
Great Indian Desert
{{link=Takla Makan Desert">Takla Makan Desert