Countries With the Most Desert Area

The countries with the most desert area are: Australia (1.37M km²), Saudi Arabia (2.15M km²), Algeria (2M km²), China (1.3M km²), and Libya (1.76M km²).

Introduction

Countries With the Most Desert Area is one of the most searched geography topics on the internet. Whether you're a student, traveler, or trivia enthusiast, understanding these rankings helps paint a picture of our diverse world. In this guide, we rank the top countries and provide context for each entry.

Complete Rankings

1. Australia — ~1.37 million km² (70% arid/semi-arid)

Australia is the driest inhabited continent, with approximately 70% of its landmass classified as arid or semi-arid. The Great Victoria Desert alone spans 422,000 square kilometers. Other major deserts include the Great Sandy Desert, Tanami, Simpson, and Gibson deserts. Australia's red interior, known as the Outback, is one of the most recognizable desert landscapes in the world.

2. Saudi Arabia — ~2.15 million km² (95% desert)

About 95% of Saudi Arabia is desert, including the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) — the largest contiguous sand desert in the world at 650,000 square kilometers. The An Nafud desert in the north covers another 65,000 square kilometers. Despite this aridity, Saudi Arabia has developed massive desalination infrastructure to support its population.

3. Algeria — ~2 million km² (80% Sahara)

Algeria is Africa's largest country, and approximately 80% of its territory lies within the Sahara Desert. The Grand Erg Oriental and Grand Erg Occidental are massive sand seas, while the Hoggar Mountains in the central Sahara rise to 2,908 meters. Only the narrow coastal strip along the Mediterranean supports substantial agriculture.

4. China — ~1.3 million km² of desert

China has about 1.3 million square kilometers of desert, including the Gobi (1.3 million km², shared with Mongolia), the Taklamakan (337,000 km²), and the Badain Jaran. The Gobi is one of the world's largest deserts and is expanding southward at an alarming rate due to desertification.

5. Libya — ~1.76 million km² (90% desert)

Approximately 90% of Libya is desert, dominated by the Libyan section of the Sahara. The Fezzan region in the southwest contains dramatic sand seas and ancient rock art dating back 12,000 years. Libya's Great Man-Made River project extracts fossil water from beneath the Sahara to irrigate coastal areas.

6. Egypt — ~1 million km² (96% desert)

About 96% of Egypt is desert, split between the Western (Libyan) Desert and the Eastern (Arabian) Desert, separated by the Nile Valley. Egypt's entire population of over 100 million lives on just 4% of the land — primarily the Nile Valley and Delta.

7. Mongolia — ~1.2 million km² (40% desert)

About 40% of Mongolia is covered by the Gobi Desert. The Mongolian Gobi is not purely sand — it includes rocky steppe, mountains, and rare oases. The desert is famous for its dinosaur fossil discoveries and the critically endangered Gobi bear, one of the rarest mammals on Earth.

8. Sudan — ~720,000 km² of desert

Northern Sudan is dominated by the Nubian and Libyan deserts, part of the eastern Sahara. The Bayuda Desert lies within a great bend of the Nile River. Desertification is advancing southward, threatening agricultural land in central Sudan.

9. Namibia — ~Namib + Kalahari coverage

Namibia contains two major deserts: the Namib, one of the world's oldest deserts (55-80 million years), and the eastern portion of the Kalahari. The Namib's towering red sand dunes at Sossusvlei reach over 300 meters — among the tallest on Earth.

10. Kazakhstan — ~700,000 km² of desert/semi-desert

About 44% of Kazakhstan is desert or semi-desert, including the Kyzylkum and Betpak-Dala deserts. The Aral Sea disaster, caused by Soviet-era irrigation projects, has created a new desert — the Aralkum — on the former seabed.

Key Context & Facts

• Deserts cover about one-third of the Earth's land surface. The Antarctic ice sheet is technically the world's largest desert (14 million km²) by the definition of receiving less than 250mm of precipitation annually.
• The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert at approximately 9.2 million square kilometers, spanning 11 African countries.
• Desertification — the degradation of land into desert — threatens the livelihoods of over 1 billion people in more than 100 countries, driven by climate change, overgrazing, and deforestation.

Final Thoughts

The countries with the most desert area face unique challenges in water management, agriculture, and urban development, but also possess extraordinary landscapes and mineral resources. As climate change accelerates desertification in many regions, understanding which countries face the greatest arid challenges is increasingly important for global food security and environmental planning.