Desert Sandscapes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kalahari Desert

The Kalahari is a bit less arid than most because, while it contains large expanses of sand, it's also home to an abundance of plant life (comparatively) and, because of this, houses a number of animals which would find their home in a savannah ecosystem. Covering the bulk of Botswana, the desert also reaches to Namibia and South Africa.

The Kalahari Basin in which the desert is located also contains the wetlands of the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Pans and, with them, indigenous tribes. A number of game reserves dot the landscape, and unlike a number of other deserts around the world, takes on a great number of adventure tourists.

Answer: Gobi Desert

The largest desert in Central Asia and the fourth-largest in the world, the Gobi is only found in two countries: Mongolia and China. Found on the leeward side of the tallest mountains in the world, the Gobi contains the bulk of the stops along the UNESCO-protected Silk Road. Further north than most deserts on the planet, the Gobi is often colder than one would think and, while it won't often see it, it can be covered in snow during the winter months. Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, sits on the northern edge of the desert, but due to the rapid expansion of the environment and the spread of the sands, it's not unlikely to see it stretch beyond the borders in due time.

Answer: Arabian Desert

The Rub Al-Khali is actually in the central portion of the Arabian Desert, and if you're not a fan of sand, you're not going to like visiting it. Stretching across the bulk of the Middle East, the Arabian Desert can be visited in eight different countries from Iraq to the north to Yemen in the far south. With next to no local plant life and extremely hot temperatures, the Arabian Desert is one of the most foreboding and unforgiving for wildlife and people alike. Nonetheless, it's not the most arid you can visit.

This part of the world is also well-known for its oil deposits.

Answer: Sahara

Stretching across the top section of Africa nearly from end to end, the Sahara Desert is the biggest hot desert, by area, in the world. Touching into eleven countries, it takes up a quarter of the continent before being cut off by the rainforests of the Congo to the south. With next to no plant life and the high temperatures therein, the Sahara is very difficult to live in, and most towns and cities are situated on its edges-- almost never within, simply because there's no sustenance.

A notable exception would be the Nile River as it stretches through Egypt and Sudan, mainly because it provides sources of water and food. On the bright side, it's one of the sunniest places on the globe.

Answer: Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert, found west of the Andes Mountains in Northern Chile, is quite the interesting location. Receiving next to no rain in any given year, the Atacama has been, virtually, a dead zone for several million years and, as such, has nearly undrinkable groundwater (it actually has a high concentration of arsenic). Because of the Chilean coastal mountains to the west and the Andes to the east, the Atacama maintains famously clear skies, so much so that it's virtually impossible to have a better view of the stars. Today, the region is used for its copper deposits.

Answer: Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert contains a great variation in elevation. While most of the Mojave, including Las Vegas, is at a relatively high elevation, Death Valley, the hottest location in the United States, is actually at the lowest of anywhere on the continent. Because of the northernly location of this particular desert, the Mojave does end up getting quite cold at the start of the year, but the summers are blazing. During the summer, Death Valley can be as hot as forty-five degrees Celsius. That's essentially the record high for Las Vegas.

Answer: Namib Desert

The Namib Desert, dated at tens of millions of years old, really only stretches two hundred kilometers inland toward the Great Escarpment, but its effect on the area is vast. Pushing right into the Atlantic Ocean, the desert is stark and arid enough to make Namibia one of the remotest destinations anywhere on the planet.

The city of Swakopmund on the coast is one of the few major settlements in the area, and is known for its resorts. The rest of the desert is, as one would expect, foreboding and rugged. Save a for a couple of towns along the coast and settlements in and around Namib-Naukluft National Park, it's pretty much empty of people.

Answer: Great Victoria Desert

With nearly twenty percent of Australian mainland dominated by desert landscape, the Great Victoria Desert, named after Queen Victoria (who reigned at the time of its exploration) covers more than four percent of the continent-- nearly three hundred fifty thousand square kilometers. Home to a number of conservation sites, the desert here actually contains very few locals; most of Australia's population can be found around the coastline.

There are ten deserts in Australia, all of which are in the western and southern states

Answer: Thar Desert

Found mostly in Rajasthan, India, home to the city of Jaipur, the Thar Desert is quite the opposite of other major deserts in Asia because it actually contains quite a number of people living in its landscape. India, one of the highest populated countries in the world, doesn't let the desert stop its citizens from living.

The area is used for livestock for the most part, as well as fuel production and quarrying. The Pakistani side of the desert, situated in the Punjab region, is heavily irrigated to spread fresh water to the bulk of the country's citizens.

Answer: Negev Desert

Instead of being on the leeward side of the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev Desert, taking up the entire southern half of Israel, is downwind of the Sahara as it comes across Egypt. Although this rugged landscape of sand and rock is dry and hot year-round, it has never stopped people from settling and using the environment to get by. Eilat, founded in the early 1950s, sits at the southernmost edge of Israel on the Red Sea and is known for its resorts and waterfront.

The Negev is also known for its wine, solar power innovations, and military bases.