Mondo Knows Facts
Antarctica is the largest and driest desert in the world
Extreme cold keeps annual precipitation below fifty millimetres in the interior
A desert is defined by low annual precipitation, making Antarctica the world's largest desert at 14 million square kilometres. The interior receives less than 50 millimetres of moisture per year, mostly as snow. Moisture is trapped as ice, making the air drier than in hot desert regions.
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The Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar region on EarthSome weather stations in Atacama have never recorded any rainfallThe Sahara is the largest hot desert on EarthIt spans over nine million square kilometres across northern AfricaAntarctica is technically the largest desert on EarthAntarctica receives an average of less than 200 millimetres of precipitation each year along its coast and far less inland.Yuma, Arizona, is the sunniest city on recordIt averages roughly 4,000 hours of sunshine a yearVostok Station recorded the lowest natural surface temperatureThermometers plunged to minus 89.2 degrees Celsius in AntarcticaCommonwealth Bay is recognised as the windiest place on EarthKatabatic winds regularly reach speeds exceeding 240 kilometres per hour
Tags: antarctica, desert, climate
Antarctica is the largest and driest desert in the world: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Extreme cold keeps annual precipitation below fifty millimetres in the interior. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a records & extremes fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.