Deserts of the World Quiz

1. What is the world's largest hot desert?

1. Arabian Desert
2. Australian Desert
3. Gobi Desert
4. Sahara Desert

2. What is the world's largest desert overall (including cold deserts)?

1. Antarctic Desert
2. Arctic Desert
3. Gobi
4. Sahara

3. The Gobi Desert spans which two countries?

1. China and Kazakhstan
2. China and Mongolia
3. Mongolia and Russia
4. Russia and Kazakhstan

4. Which desert is known as the world's driest (non-polar) desert?

1. Arabian
2. Atacama
3. Namib
4. Sahara

5. What type of terrain makes up only about 20-25% of the Sahara Desert?

1. Mountains
2. Oases
3. Rocky plains
4. Sand dunes (ergs)

6. The Namib Desert is found primarily in which country?

1. Angola
2. Botswana
3. Namibia
4. South Africa

7. What is a desert defined as in geographical terms?

1. A hot, sun-baked landscape
2. A sandy area with no vegetation
3. An area receiving less than 250mm of precipitation annually
4. Any treeless landscape

8. The Sonoran Desert — home to the famous saguaro cactus — is found in:

1. Both southern USA and northern Mexico
2. Central America
3. Mexico only
4. USA only

9. The Arabian Desert covers most of which peninsula?

1. Anatolian Peninsula
2. Arabian Peninsula
3. Iberian Peninsula
4. Indian Peninsula

10. Which African desert is famous for its dramatic red sand dunes, some of the tallest in the world?

1. Danakil
2. Kalahari
3. Namib
4. Sahara

11. The Kalahari Desert, spanning Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia, is unusual because:

1. It floods every year
2. It has rich red sand and supports far more vegetation and wildlife than a true desert
3. It is entirely underground
4. It never gets rain

12. Death Valley in California holds which world record?

1. Highest recorded air temperature on Earth (56.7°C / 134°F)
2. Lowest average annual rainfall
3. World's largest sand dunes
4. World's lowest elevation desert

13. The Patagonian Desert in Argentina is South America's largest desert. What type of desert is it?

1. Coastal desert
2. Cold desert
3. Hot desert
4. Rain shadow desert

14. Which plant is specially adapted to store water in desert environments?

1. Baobab
2. Cactus
3. Eucalyptus
4. Palm tree

15. The Rub' al Khali ('Empty Quarter') is the world's largest continuous sand desert. Where is it?

1. Central Australia
2. The Arabian Peninsula
3. The Gobi
4. The Sahara

16. What is an 'oasis'?

1. A dry riverbed in a desert
2. A mirage in the desert
3. A place in a desert with water and vegetation, often around a spring
4. A sand dune formation

17. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia and Eritrea is notable for being:

1. One of the hottest and lowest places on Earth, with volcanic activity
2. The oldest inhabited desert region
3. The source of the Nile River
4. The world's largest desert

18. Australia is the world's driest inhabited continent. Which large desert covers its interior?

1. All of the above are separate Australian deserts
2. The Australian Desert
3. The Great Victoria Desert
4. The Simpson Desert

19. A 'wadi' in desert geography refers to what?

1. A desert oasis
2. A desert trading post
3. A dry riverbed or valley that fills with water during rain
4. A type of sand dune

20. What percentage of Earth's land surface is covered by deserts?

1. About 10%
2. About 15%
3. About 25-33%
4. About 50%