Deserts of Australia
Deserts of Australia cover a large portion of the land in Australia. Most of the deserts lie in the central and north-western part of the country. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. The size of the deserts in Australia combined is 2.3 million square km [1] (1.3 million square miles), and occupies 44% of the continent.
Australian Deserts
| Desert | State/Territor | Size(km²) | Australian Land (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Victoria Desert | Western Australia, South Australia | 348 750 | 4.5% |
| Great Sandy Desert | Western Australia | 267 250 | 3.5% |
| Tanami Desert | Western Australia, Northern Territory | 184 500 | 2.4% |
| Simpson Desert | Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia | 176 500 | 2.3% |
| Gibson Desert | Western Australia | 156 000 | 2.0% |
| Little Sandy Desert | Western Australia | 111 500 | 1.5% |
| Strzelecki Desert | South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales | 80 250 | 1.0% |
| Sturt Stony Desert | South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales | 29 750 | 0.3% |
| Tirari Desert | South Australia | 15 250 | 0.2% |
| Pedirka Desert | South Australia | 1 250 | < 0.1% |
| Western Desert (unofficial) | Western Australia, South Australia | 524 750 | 7.0% |
Information taken from Australian Government Fact Site
Size
As the area of a desert may not be easily measured exactly, different sizes have been given for Australia's deserts, as shown in this table which uses a number of sources [2] [3] [4] [5]
| Desert | Smallest size given (km²) | Largest size given (km²) | Smallest size given (sq.miles) | Largest size given (sq.miles) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Sandy | 338,500 | 415,000 | 150,000 | 160,000 |
| Great Victoria | 338,500 | 650,000 [2] | 150,000 | 250,000 |
| Gibson | 155,000 | 310,800 | 60,000 | 120,000 |
| Simpson | 100,000 | 584,500 [3] | 40,000 | 225,700[4] |
Great Victoria Desert
The Great Victoria Desert lies in Western Australia and South Australia. It is over 700 kilometres (435 miles) wide and covers and area of 424,400 square kilometers (163,900 mile²).
Gibson Desert
The Gibson Desert lies in central Western Australia and is made up of sandhills and dry grass. The desert is about 155,000 square kilometers (60000 square miles) in size. Most of the inhabitants of the area are Indigenous Australians.
Simpson Desert
The Simpson Desert lies mainly in the south-east part of the Northern Territory, but parts of it are also in Queensland and South Australia. It covers an area of almost 100,000 km². The Simpson Desert contains the world's longest parallel sand dunes.
Other deserts
- Little Sandy Desert
- Western Desert – grouping of Gibson, Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts.
- Strzelecki Desert
- Tanami Desert
- Tirari Desert