The most extensive continent of the world - Asia, stretching for 8,200 kilometers from north to south and 8,500 kilometers from west to east, occupies almost a third of the entire land. This continent has the most powerful belt of deserts. However, the greatest mountain ranges divide this belt into separate massifs of deserts. We have briefly become acquainted with the most important of our deserts, but to the southwest, to the south and east of them lie still large expanses of the deserts of Inner and South Asia, which have different natural conditions and are located in different countries.
on Arabian soil. Asia's westernmost and largest peninsula, the Arabian, borders the Mediterranean, Red, Arabian Seas and the Persian Gulf. Its territory exceeds 3 million square kilometers. Of these, 36 percent is occupied by the barren deserts of the hottest regions of the world. Sixty percent of the territory of the Arabian Peninsula is semi-desert, suitable mainly for animal husbandry, and only 4 percent is occupied by forests and areas suitable for agriculture.
Deserts stretch both south and north from the central mountainous country of Najd. The lava flows of ancient volcanoes compose here the vast rocky expanses of the Harra Desert. Some volcanoes have been inactive for a long time, and the city of Aden, for example, is located in the very crater of a forever extinct volcano. One of the volcanoes, located near the city of Medina, was active in the XIII century. Small volcanoes that form islands in the Red Sea are still active today.
To the north of Najd lies the large Nefud Desert, or Red Sand Desert. To the south of Nejd lies one of the largest sandy deserts, covered with impenetrable (high dunes), the Dehna desert, or Roba-al-Khali (Empty Quarter), which remains completely unexplored to this day. And between it and the shore of the Arabian Sea is the mountainous desert of Hadramaut , which means "Country of solar heat". Wide dry valleys - wadis - descend from the mountains of the Arabian Peninsula and in places go 900 kilometers deep into the deserts. But the climate has changed a long time ago, and now there is no more water in these dry valleys. It appears only occasionally, yes and then only near the mountains.That is why the population of these ancient countries lives only in the mountainous and foothill regions, and near the springs that come out from under the rocks.
This vast region, if we do not take into account the states adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea and Iraq, has only 3.8 million people, that is, an average of one person per square kilometer. In total, 8-10 million people live on the Arabian Peninsula. The economy of the country is in such a state that there is not enough agricultural products for food. They have to be imported partly through the sale of livestock products, partly through the export of coffee - the only crop grown with some excess.
Slender, tall date palms, "with their heads in the fire, their feet in the water," grow wherever there is close groundwater. These palms give fruits that replace bread, sugar, and meat for the population.
Nomadic pastoralism in the deserts and irrigated agriculture in small areas in the mountainous and foothill regions never gave much wealth; besides, it always got here not to those who created it - not to the people, but to those who rule over the peoples - the spiritual and tribal nobility.
The nomadic way of life, associated with the nomadism of entire tribes, did not make it possible to either take into account the population or clarify the boundaries of individual states. Repeated and constant wars and devastating raids by foreign invaders were the lot of the peoples of Arabia. Until 1918, almost the entire country was conquered by Turkey. How Turkey "took care" of Arabia can be judged at least by the fact that out of 40 plague epidemics in the 19th century, 22 arose in Iraq alone (Mesopotamia). The seasoned English spy Colonel Lawrence, in his book Desert Rebellion, did not hesitate to describe in detail how he, instigating "holy wars", set one people against another, forcing Turkey, under the threat of losing Arabia, to hold large armies not at the front, but in their rear. By the Treaty of Versailles, Arabia was taken from Turkey. From that time on, the British more and more began to entangle Arabia with threads of intrigue, conspiracies, bribery and provocations, trying first to fragment, and then completely subjugate this country, part of which they captured back in 1839 (Aden). As a result, 13 states and 2 neutral zones have now been created on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula.
In recent years, large new oil deposits have been discovered in the deserts of Arabia. From that moment on, the pressure of British and American capital on all the states of Arabia increased tenfold. America "bought" for itself the right to exploit deposits and build oil pipelines, in particular the Trans-Arabian 1,800 kilometers long.
England decided to take a different path. Adhering to its old tried and tested manner of action - to rake in the heat with the wrong hands - it organized the League of Arab countries and, secretly inciting one state against another, acts as a "protector and guardian", hoping to capture all the Arab states at once cheaper and in bulk.
The people have not yet given their word. When they give him the latest hard drives, he does not refuse to take them from the givers. But the Arabs have a saying: "Every desert has its own future." And it is unlikely that the freedom-loving people, who have defended their independence for centuries, will agree to become a slave. It is unlikely that he dreams of turning the "black gold" of his homeland into dollars for American billionaires and into strategic raw materials for new wars. And it is unlikely that the proud and intelligent Arab people will allow their deserts to be an arena for the black deeds of white masters.
Desert of Thar.Hindustan is the second largest peninsula in Asia.
For 200 years India was ruled by England. The "English Commonwealth of Nations" is what conservatives call their colonial empire. For two hundred years England boasted that she planted culture in India, and for two hundred years she mercilessly extracted from India everything that was created by the hands of hungry slaves. So it was, so in fact everything remained until the very last years. The population of this richest country, harvesting two crops a year, themselves did not have bread and led a half-starved existence. India supplied rice and fruits to the tables of masters in the metropolis, and in India itself, only half of the children lived to be 15 years old! Indians die by the millions during the harvest, as was the case, for example, in 1945. But even in good years, on average, about a million children alone died of starvation in India. Huge expanses of the jungle have not been developed in India, and in the neighboring regions there is not enough land for fields, there is nowhere to graze cattle, and people are dying by the millions. That is why the population of India is so fed up with the "benefits" of the white masters, why it so deeply hates all and sundry colonialists and so persistently strives for the actual independence of its state.
Usually we imagine India as a tropical country, where the evergreen jungle is ready to absorb and hide in its wilds everything created by man, if he does not protect his fields and villages from the all-consuming invasion of the green sea of giant trees and vines entwining them. But there is another India, not southern - tropical, but northern - subtropical India, where only artificially irrigated land gives birth to bread; India, where millions of people live, whose life depends entirely on how much water the Himalayas will give to the rivers flowing from them.
In the northwest, in this subtropical India, is the Thar Desert. Its outskirts are composed of fine earth soils, and the central spaces are occupied by sands. The dryness of the air during most of the year is so great here that this region is considered not semi-dry, but dry, desert. But Thar was one of the "best" deserts in the world. Spring and winter rains made it possible to develop, although not dense vegetation, but still quite sufficient for grazing cattle and for holding sand together, and its mild climate did not threaten either man or herds.
The pastures of the Thar desert were so rapaciously trampled down by herds that the grasses became scanty and the sands in many areas became bare and loose. They also fall asleep what has survived from the former pastures, and the "best" desert cannot feed half of the herds that graze in it before.
Along the western edge of the Thar Desert flows the greatest river of South Asia - the Indus, which gave birth to the sands of this desert. It originates from the glaciers of the Himalayas and brings from the highlands, along with water, huge amounts of sand and fertile silt. The British, in pursuit of cheap cotton and rice, created by the hands of beggarly paid and constantly starving slaves, expanded irrigation in the Indus Valley, but did not subdue the river. It either brings devastating floods, or it becomes so shallow that it cannot provide irrigation for the fields. It happens that the river leaves its course and paves a new path, ruining the fields and causing real disasters. At the same time, the Indus uselessly discharges into the ocean an average of 2.5 times more water than the largest river of Central Asia, the Amu Darya, brings from the mountains.
The enormous excess water of the Indus could be used to completely water and irrigate this desert, which occupies about 300 thousand square kilometers. By greatly expanding the cultivation of rice and cotton, real wealth can be provided to the entire population of India. But in modern conditions, neither the republic of India, which is embarking on the path of independent development, nor Pakistan, which is being taken over by the Americans, to which the entire western part of the desert and the Indus Valley have gone, is still beyond the power of this. The peoples of Hindustan took the path of independence. In the summer of 1954, their president, Nehru, said that India was not a poor country and did not need foreign loans to develop its economy. However, artificially separated Pakistan, created in the hope of the old capitalist principle of "divide and rule", is now really dominated by the American policy of war. But the time will come when for all the peoples of India, regardless of their religion or caste, their free, peaceful labor will be a source of abundance and wealth for the people themselves, and not enrichment, white masters. The Indian people will become the true master of their destiny, their country and their rivers.
Kevirs and mountains of Iran. Between Lravia and India, to the south of the Turkmen SSR, the expanses of Iran stretched. This country also has humid subtropical regions of the coast of the South Caspian, where oranges ripen in gardens, and dry subtropics of the coast of the Persian Gulf with groves of date palms. In Iran, there are high snowy mountains of Elburs and many relatively low mountain ranges that cross the whole country in different regions. The climate of the main spaces of Iran is dry. It is milder only in the mountains, where a little more moisture falls, pastures are more plentiful, irrigation is possible on streams, and in some places rain-fed (non-irrigated) grain crops.
Between the low mountain ranges in Iran are vast flat spaces, which are real, sometimes the most "malicious" deserts. The most lifeless of them are saline-in-argillaceous plains of kevirs - "salt deserts".
Now spots of white sparkling salt, now the gray puffy surface of salt marshes, now an infinite number of low, flat-topped hillocks composed of gypsum crystals, but in general, all the same salt desert spreads around during the long hours of the caravan. But then a mountain range appeared in the distance, or maybe a ridge of bizarre clouds? This vision beckons to itself with a strange play of colors, and some kind of unusual airy transparency. The bot already sees the blue too bright for the sky, cut through by red stripes, turning in places into icy white; something almost still invisible shines with a cold brilliance. You are at a loss: is it a mirage or reality?
But the closer the caravan comes, the clearer it becomes that this is not a vision; for all their unusualness, these are really mountains. Their forms are bizarre, like fantastic statues. Giant columns, fanciful towers and outlandish temples alternate with fantastic petrified monsters, as in a fairy tale, and some gigantic mushrooms. A stream flows from the slope, but even around it there is not a single bush, not a single blade of grass, and only its banks are trimmed with white stripes sparkling in the bright sun. It turns out that the ridge is composed of a giant deposit of rock salt. This is the mystery of the bizarre colors and overflows of these mountains and their striking lifelessness.
This low ridge of salt crossed the caravan, and again the flat dead plain of salt marsh - kevir stretched. Such gesevirs occupy a significant long space of Iran. Especially large is the large salt desert Deshte-Kevir and located southeast of Deshte-Lut.
There are also sandy deserts in Iran, which differ sharply in their landscape. Among them are often bare loose dune sands, but the sands of Iran are often located in the foothills, where the winds linger, where a little more moisture falls. In such places, areas of sands are semi-covered with vegetation and are used for grazing herds. In general, with all the variety of landscapes in Iran, the areas of barren deserts are too large in it. For centuries, the waters of rivers have been used to irrigate fields, but a lot of water is lost in a fragmented shallow irrigation system.
Little water is given now by the ancient underground galleries - kyarizes. We simply increase the water content of karezes several times. To do this, shallow wells are drilled in their upper parts, revealing abundant and previously unused pressure water. But to get these waters, you need at least a few pipes and tools that the Iranian people do not have.
Sheep and goats, like a razor, shaved all the slopes of the mountains. There were no trees or bushes that had grown before, and grass became rare. And with every rain, countless potholes and ravines are more and more eroded, turning into gorges.
The mountains, which previously provided water, fuel and pastures, have turned into formidable enemies, covering the fields with a stone shroud. The impoverished peasants cannot fight this alone, and the provincial governors, who are at the same time the largest landlords who lease land to the landless peasants, are not interested in these questions either.
Two methods of using the mountains lying among the deserts met in the border range of Kopet-Dag. On one side, everything is bare and blurry, and the goats are climbing the steep slopes in search of the last bushes that have not yet been gnawed at the top, not yet cut down for fuel. And on the other side - the bright green of cut grass and a huge amount of haystacks. Green caps of juniper tree - juniper - and squares of rain-fed fields of wheat and barley only on the most flat areas. Overgrown with herbs, wild figs and walnuts, the valleys of cheerful streams, and not a single sheep and goat - this terrible scourge of the mountains. The herds graze on the plains, and the grasses are “cut” not by the herds, but by the people on the mowers. For thirty years the mountains on Soviet soil have been protected from grazing herds, and the results of this are enormous. Mudflow removals of "mountain debris" are not terrible. Springs and kyarizes have become more abundant; mowed grasses provide incomparably more fodder than previous pastures on the mountains.
In the past two decades, features of a different life have also appeared in Iran. The desert was crossed by the first two railways in the country. Ribbons of highways passed from region to region, new bridges were built, and the capital began to rebuild in a European way. There were several modern schools and luxury cars. Airfields are being built in the deserts, but not for civilian, but for American military aviation. More and more various foreign "consultants" are attracted to the country by the smell of oil. And all these "innovations" did not give wealth to the people, they led to the incitement of national hatred between the various tribes and peoples of Iran, to the dominance of reaction and to the loss of state independence by the industrious Iranian people.
And the desert lies as it lay from ancient times. There are only fewer pastures and fields, and even less water is carried by rivers from the great mountains.
Deserts of the People's Republic of China. In the very heart of Asia, pressed against the northern foothills of the world's greatest Tibetan Plateau, lies the belt of deserts of Inner Asia. It stretches for 3,500 kilometers from the foothills of the Pamirs to Manchuria. The climate of these deserts is harsh. The heat of the day alternates here with the cold of the night, dusty black storms are replaced by severe frosts, and the winds sometimes rage stronger than in any other deserts of the world.
Human life developed here in different ways - both in the expanses of deserts and along their narrow piedmont outskirts.
Some areas have long been used for pastures by nomads whose economy has changed little over the millennia. “And the grass has a soul,” the Buddhist religion teaches the Mongols. "It is a great sin to mow the grass and plow the land - the souls of countless plants are ruined at the same time." That is why one cannot engage in agriculture, but one must only roam with one's herds, being completely dependent on nature. That is why, in the vast expanses of Inner Mongolia, for centuries the only means of transport was the camel, the only clothing was wool, the only food was milk without bread, and occasionally meat. That is why during the years of droughts not only herds perished, but also the nomads themselves, and their life remained as harsh and unsecured as in the early stages of the formation of human culture.
In other places, agricultural states arose and developed, creating writing and literature. But conquerors came, destroyed people and cities, devastated kingdoms, and for many centuries the sands took possession of monuments of architecture and culture.
In 1907-1909, our Russian traveler P.K. Kozlov managed to find a dead city in Central Mongolia - Khara-Khoto, the ancient capital of the Tangut kingdom of the XIII-XIV centuries. In Khara-Khoto, already partially buried under the sands of the desert, the richest monuments of ancient culture were found, and, in particular, a huge library of about 2 thousand volumes of valuable books.
In the piedmont areas, on narrow strips between woods and mountains, where there is at least a little water, oases with carefully cultivated fields have long appeared. Underground drainage galleries - karezes of Iran are famous all over the world. Many believe that they were created only in Iran. But in the deserts of Western China, in the province of Xinjiang bordering on Kazakhstan, at the foot of the mountains, karezes of enormous length stretched in a thick web. One can only marvel at the titanic labor that was required to create them. The slopes of the Turfan and Lukchum basins are literally riddled with tens of thousands of observation wells of this dense network of karezes. On the subterranean waters of dry streams - sais - bred by the kyariz, fields, vegetable gardens and occasionally gardens of the ancient, primordial inhabitants of these countries huddle. Of these, the most numerous are the Uighurs (often referred to there as tarapchi), accounting for more than half of the entire multinational population of Sipjiang. Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Mongols also live here. At the end of the 19th century, after the country was conquered by China, the Chinese population quickly began to grow here and the country itself was then called "Chinese Turkestan". The fields and houses of farmers stretch in places in a continuous strip for tens and hundreds of kilometers, but only narrow strips are cultivated along the foothills of the mountains, which can be provided with water.
In East China, in the ancient agricultural counties, there are 700-800 people of the rural population per square kilometer. No agricultural country knows such a density of population. It is not surprising that the flow of the Chinese population goes further and further into the deserts of Inner Asia, and now in Inner Mongolia nomadic Mongols make up no more than half of the total population of the country. In this regard, the agricultural use of seemingly the most unfavorable lands is expanding.
Under the conditions of the feudal-medieval system that existed in China before October 1, 1949, its development was the most primitive. It was carried out only to the extent feasible for the hardest-working, but ruined, single-handed Chinese peasant. Torn apart by internal strife, the China of the past was unable to transform its deserts. The population of Chinanjiang remained deprived of any connection with the main, Eastern China, the largest natural resources of the deserts were not used. Now ancient China has begun a new era of its life. From the very first days of its existence, the new people's China embarked on great transformations, and new life is pouring into the deserts in a stormy stream.
What are these deserts of China?
Desert Takla Makan. Between the three highest highlands of the world - the Tien Shan, the Pamirs and Tibet - lay the largest on earth Tarim intermountain depression, almost entirely occupied by one of the largest sandy deserts in the world - Takla Makan. This depression stretched for half a thousand kilometers in the meridional direction, and from the west to the east it stretched for more than 1,200 kilometers, right up to the wandering lake Lob-Nor.
The Tarim Basin is closed from almost all sides by high uplands with eternal snows, and there is only one way out of it - to the northeast, to the deserts of Mongolia.
The rivers flowing from the glaciers of the Karakoram, Pamir and Tien Shan join together to form the great Tarim River. This river rolls its waters through the entire basin, washing the desert from three sides. And from the south, rivers flow into the desert, originating in Tibet.
From all sides, from the highlands, winds rush into the basin. But the strongest and coldest are those that blow in winter and early spring from the northeast, not from the highlands, but from the cold spaces of Mongolia open from the north at this time of the year. The Tarim Basin is located at an altitude of 800-1,000 meters. Therefore, the winds rushing into it from Mongolia bring only cold. And the air descending from the highlands expands, warms up, dries up and brings heat and dryness to the desert. That is why the sky of Takla Makan is so often cloudless, that is why snow falls so rarely here. Travelers several times ventured to cross the Takla-Makan; the first among them was the remarkable explorer of Asia N. M. Przhevalsky.
All researchers were amazed at the height and complex structure of the bare sandy heaps of this desert. Our other compatriot, K. I. Bogdanovich, described them best of all. It turned out that these heaps are nothing more than the complex dune chains familiar to us now in other places, in which the dunes, as if heaping one on top of the other, give ramparts that are gentle from the side of the wind, up to 100 - 120 meters in height. On the leeward side, the steep slope borders on a depression, sometimes as flat as a table and covered with salt marshes, sometimes with low beds of sand overgrown with rare grasses. Such dune chains are 2 - 4 kilometers apart from each other, and they stretch across the entire desert.
We succeeded in compiling a relief map of the Takla-Makan sands, and it turned out that its dune chains form two gigantic systems of semicircles. One of them seems to flow from the east, from Mongolia, and occupies the eastern half of the desert. The other covers the west of Takla-Makan and is directed towards the eastern arcs. This most accurately reveals the nature of the air circulation above the basin.
In the east of the desert, east and northeast hurricane winds prevail, bringing cold from the deserts of Central Asia. In the west of the desert, winds blow from all the surrounding highlands, but western winds prevail, crossing the Pamirs. Both of these opposite air currents create gigantic systems of dune arcs, bulging towards the center of the desert. Having reached the center of the desert, the air masses are so warm that they become light and rise. Having risen, they cool again and spread over the top from the center of the basin to its outskirts, to the mountains. No wonder the Russian traveler M.V. Pevtsov wrote that in the mountains surrounding the Takla-Makan desert, a cold wind constantly blows from the hot desert.
Difficult and tedious is the way through this deserted and waterless desert. In places, in depressions among the loose sands, some beams, boards stick out, the remains of utensils lie on the surface - mute witnesses of a once existing settlement. How could people live here, among the bare sands? Where did they get beams and boards in this country?
But now the sands part, and the caravan enters the river valley. Traces of the radiant riverbed are visible everywhere. Celte forests rise above the former floodplain. But there is not a drop of water in the channel, not a single leaf on the trees. This is not a forest, this is a cemetery of skeletons of dead poplar trees - "tograk", rising 6 - 7 meters. Some trees reach 5 or even 7 meters in circumference at the base. Their wood is as strong as stone and rings when struck. There is no water here, the river has long gone from here, the groundwater has dried up, but this stone forest remained in memory of the former river for a long time. No wonder the Uyghurs believe that the toghrak grows for a thousand years, stays dry until it falls, the second thousand years, and only after three thousand years the wind blows its ashes.
Where did the river come from and where did it go? There are many such rivers, entering the sands from the south, here and now. And the Khotan-Darya River, flowing from the Kuen-Lun, flows through the desert for its entire width and. only bypassing the sands, on the northern outskirts of the basin, it merges with other rivers and gives rise to the Tarim. In the lower reaches of the Tarim, branching, one of the channels again crosses the Takla-Makan, ending not only in Lob-Nor Lake, where, by the way, in recent years, the waters of the river do not fall at all, and in another similar shallow flood - Lake Kum-Kul . Another river, Keria, even now brings its waters almost to the central regions of the desert. The sands of this desert themselves are the same child of the mountains as the Kara-Kum, created by the Amu Darya. But the rivers wander, and man uses their valleys in the desert mainly not for crops, but in order to feed his herds.
The population of the oases is dense, and the deserts are almost deserted. People huddle in insignificant patches of land, and rivers uselessly roll their waters for hundreds and hundreds of kilometers. A lot of riches are hidden in the depths of the foothills, but they lie unused by anyone. Signs of oil have long been discovered, and kerosene for oil lamps and lamps was delivered from Russia by camel caravans. The country in which one of the most extensive sandy deserts of the world lies was deprived of glass made from sand, and glass for a kerosene lamp and for a window had to be brought from the same Russia, on the same camels. In the hot climate of the foothill strips, they grow on irrigated patches and peaches and grapes, melons ripen, all kinds of vegetables and bread, giving two crops a year. But Chinese officials levied endless taxes, profited as much as they could, and ruined the population. It is not surprising that cut off by 2 - 3 thousand kilometers of caravan trails from mainland China, the country was actually in the grip of the worst, completely uncontrolled embezzlers - servants of the feudal government. And the completely ruined poor people left for the sands, having only a couple of goats or a few chickens and living only in the hope of catching fish in the small channels of meandering rivers.
Desert Gobi.Huge expanses of the Gobi. It lies at an altitude of 1-2 kilometers, or even higher. In summer, the sun can be quite hot, but the sun will set, and the temperature will drop to 0 °. And in winter, frosts here are 30 - 40 °, but snow rarely falls and the ground is bare, covered only with dried grasses. In some places there are massifs of sand, usually relatively low and overgrown with grasses and shrubs. The spaces of the plains alternate with mountains rising above them either by several hundred meters, or by 1-2 kilometers. More rain falls in the mountains, and here the nomads graze herds of sheep, goats, two-humped camels, and to the north, horses. And for the winter, the population descends to the plains and to the basins. In the cold and cold, herds walk in the open air, and people live in felt yurts, easily packed into a camel pack. “Gobi” - steppe - the Mongols call these dry spaces, the northern parts of which belong to the steppe zone, and the southern parts to the desert zone.
A lot of wealth is hidden in the bowels of the mountains in the deserts of Inner Mongolia, which lies south of the Mongolian People's Republic. Russian travelers described the deposits of various ores located here and rich deposits of coal. Hundreds of the richest mines appeared during the years of Soviet power in our western part of the Tien Shan. Even longer are the Tien Shan chains in China. But there are still almost no mines in them. Only in some places one could meet singles or small artels of Chinese gold miners. In general, these highlands of inner Asia are still very little mastered by man. Hundreds and hundreds of kilometers can be traveled without meeting a person or a path. Herds of wild Przhevalsky horses and wild asses, herds of wild camels and gazelle antelopes are the only inhabitants of the deserted desert. And in the neighboring northern regions of the same Gobi, within the limits of the Mongolian People's Republic, dry steppes are continuous pastures, where huge herds of sheep, goats and horses graze. There is no other state in the whole world where there are so many livestock for every inhabitant. There is no doubt that the deserts of the southern Gobi will be used much more productively under the conditions of the new China, especially since they will soon be crossed by a railway from East China to Xinjiang.
Desert Ala Shan. South of the Gobi, between the southern border of the Mongolian People's Republic and the Nan Shan ranges, there is a large sandy Ala Shan desert, cut from south to north by the Edzin-Gol River. Its smaller part, lying to the west of the river, is covered with grasses, but three-quarters of the space, located to the east of the river, are mostly bare sands, similar to the giant dune accumulations of Takla-Makan. Our Russian travelers crossed this desert more than once. At the end of the last century, their caravans always found here both fresh water and enough food for horses and camels. But the pastures of this desert were underused, mainly because the nomadic Mughals then tried to stay away from the Chinese tribute collectors, who scurried over the thrones of even such remote deserts as Ala Shan.
Ordos.The great Chinese rock Huanghe, or Yellow, limits the Ala Shan from the east. This river, leaving the Nan Shan mountains, flows hundreds of kilometers to the north, then to the east, and then turns sharply again in the meridional direction, to the south, forming the "Great Bend". "Ordos" - the Chinese call this space, which is a plateau, washed by the Yellow River on three sides, but dry and deserted, almost devoid of river waters. The large northern and western parts of this desert are composed of sands and fertile loess - its smaller eastern part, somewhat more humid and in climate corresponding to dry steppes. In some places on the outskirts of Ordos, in the valleys of the plateau, where there are springs and small streams, there are small Chinese villages. The main areas of the plateau are used by the nomadic Mongols who graze their herds, which have grown greatly in the five years that have passed since the formation of people's China.
Ordos ends the belt of non-tropical deserts of Asia. The breath of warm and humid air of the Pacific Ocean comes here in summer, when monsoons blow from the sea; further east is the Chinese lowland - with a mild climate that provides for the needs of intensive agriculture
New life of an ancient country. Constant civil strife, strife and excessive taxes were the eternal lot of China, which had a particularly hard effect in its remote provinces. For more than twenty years, an exhausting civil war raged in China and then the Japanese occupation of many of its provinces.
On October 1, 1949, the Chinese people, under the leadership of their Communist Party, overthrew the power of foreigners and traitors, broke free from the tenacious fetters of medieval feudalism that choked all living things in the country, and began to build a new, happy life. Article 41 of the General Program of the People's Political Consultative Council of China states: "Culture and education ... must be of a new, democratic nature, that is, they must be national in form, scientific in content, and popular in character." Another article provides for the comprehensive development of natural resources. And all these provisions are quickly being implemented.
Four months later, on February 14, 1950, for the first time in the history of China, an equal and genuinely friendly treaty was concluded with the great Soviet Union. This treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance formed a solid foundation for the transformations that engulfed the entire country.
Less than five months had passed since the birth of the new China, when the Central People's Government began to implement the grandiose plan of transformation of nature adopted by it, aimed primarily at using water resources to irrigate fields and prevent those constant floods from the floods of the Yangtze, Yellow River, Huai River and other rivers. , which are a huge disaster for farmers.
The turbulent, high-water Huaihe River flows through the territory of a vast province - Northern Jiangsu. On its way, it receives many tributaries, originating in numerous large and small lakes.
In each rainy year, the lakes absorb such a huge amount of water that the level of the river rises by 6 - 7 meters.
Water overflows its banks, flooding rice fields, cotton plantations, villages and roads.
In dry years, lakes and rivers become shallow, canals that irrigate fields dry up and crops die from drought.
Thus, for many centuries, the fate of vast territories and the people inhabiting them was entirely in the power of a violent and capricious river.
The Decree of the State Administrative Council on the construction of hydraulic structures on the Huai River, published in October 1950, provided for the construction of a system of reservoirs and reservoirs in the upper and middle reaches of the river to retain 12 billion cubic meters of flood water. In addition, the construction of dams, dams, deepening of the river bed and its tributaries, digging diversion and irrigation canals, construction of hydroelectric power stations and other works are being planned. According to the construction plan, 16 reservoirs are being built on the Huai River in its upper and middle reaches, including 13 reservoirs in Henan province and 3 reservoirs in the northern part of Anhui. The construction of the Shiman-Tan reservoir in Henan province was completed in 1951.
Hard work is underway at the construction of the Banjiao reservoirs in Henan province, where tens of thousands of people are working. The army of builders, seized with a labor impulse, actually carries out the call of Mao Tse-tung: "Let's curb Huaihe!"
Already in the spring of 1950, according to the plan for the transformation of nature, the grandiose construction of new canals, the restoration and reconstruction of dams enclosing the rivers, drainage and dredging began. In Northeast China alone, 3,000 kilometers of canals will be built!
Another no less grandiose irrigation facility in the new China will be the Huang Hei Irrigation Canal. It will run from the upper reaches of the Yellow River to the Weihe River.
The Yellow River caused the population living in its valley no less disaster than the Huai River. How many times has it overflowed its banks, tore down protective dams, changed its course, flooding vast territories and bringing death to millions of people!
As early as 1949, the People's Government made a special decision to build the Huang He Canal, which would be "another major step towards transforming the Huang He from a river of people's calamities and a river of people's happiness."
Most of the water from this river will go through canals to irrigate peasant fields, the rest of the water will flow into the Weihe and turn this river into a full-flowing transport highway, much needed by Northern China. In the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Chahar and Suiyuan, 130 million trees were planted in the sands and along the river banks in 1950 alone!
Naturally, most of this work is being carried out in East China, where the bulk of the agricultural and industrial population lives. But the transformations are already beginning to affect the deserts.
The "Dead Heart of Asia" used to be called Xinjiang - the largest province of China, occupying a fifth of the country's territory, but separated from densely populated Eastern China by thousands of kilometers of deserts.
About 6 million people live in Xinjiang - 13 different nationalities.
The population of this region was backward and miserably poor. After the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang under the leadership of the People's Government, the economic, political and cultural life of the vast region began to develop widely.
The peoples of Xinjiang have joined the united fraternal family of people's China and are working together with the whole country to create a new, prosperous, cultural and fruitful life. Xinjiang means "new land" in Chinese; now this land, for the first time in its history, fully justifies its name.
In Xinjiang, a country of deserts and droughts, large-scale irrigation work has begun. Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army help the population build the Pzyanyansh reservoir and 6 irrigation canals. These canals will make it possible to irrigate about 5 million mu (My is a Chinese measure of land area equal to one sixteenth of a hectare) of land. Forest shelter belts are being planted - future forests should protect fields, gardens and plantations from the sultry winds of the deserts.
Forest plantations are necessary for China. Sands advance in this country not only on cities located on the borders of deserts. Terrible sandstorms rage in China, which in other places last for 5-6 months. The sands are advancing on one of the largest industrial cities in China, Mukden, and if they are not stopped now, if sandstorms are not subdued, then it will be even more difficult to fight them later. That is why the forest barriers being created now in China are so great and grandiose in their scale. Their size can be judged by the fact that the largest forest belt in Northwest China will stretch for 1,700 kilometers in length.
Back in 1905, Academician V. A. Obruchev, exploring the deserts of East Asia, discovered various minerals in the northwestern part of Xinjiang, in the so-called border Dzungaria.
“The border Dzungaria turned out to be,” he wrote, “quite rich in minerals. We ascertained previously known deposits of gold, fossil coal and asphalt, discovered oil outcrops and veins of asphalt of a different type, signs of copper and iron ores. It is very likely that there are deposits of other metals as well.” The venerable researcher had to wait for a long 48 years and only at the age of 90 to see the beginning of work on the use of his discoveries made in our neighboring country.
For centuries, the deserts of Central Asia were cut off from the rest of the world, while Western and Eastern China remained divided. The establishment of an equal Soviet-Chinese joint-stock company of civil aviation not only tied the provinces of China, but also was a powerful stimulus for the further development of the deserts of China.
For thousands of years, the rivers of Central Asia watered the fields among the deserts, but how much water was wasted without use! There is no doubt that all these rivers, and primarily the rivers of the Tarim Basin, will be conquered and will provide water to millions of hectares of new fields and new plantations, enrich the nature of ancient deserts,
China has embarked on the path of transformation, and now there is no force that could stop its great advance!
Deserts occupy about 1/8 of the land, forming in dry areas with a tropical, subtropical or temperate climate. A necessary condition for the formation of deserts is the excess of the amount of evaporated moisture over the amount of moisture supplied with precipitation.
The largest deserts in the world by area table
|
The largest deserts in the world |
Location |
Desert type according to the lithological nature of the surface |
Approximate area, thousand km 3 |
|
North Africa |
rocky, clayey, sandy |
||
|
Central Asia, Mongolia and China |
rocky, sandy |
||
|
Libyan desert |
North Africa, west of the lower Nile |
rocky, sandy |
|
|
Central Asia, northern part of China |
rocky, sandy |
||
|
Syrian |
Southwest Asia |
sandy |
|
|
Kalahari |
South Africa |
sandy |
|
|
Rub al Khali |
Southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula |
sandy |
|
|
Nubian |
North East Africa |
sandy |
|
|
Great Sandy Desert |
Northwest Australia |
sandy, rocky areas |
|
|
Gakla Makan |
Central Asia, Tarim Basin |
sandy |
|
|
Karakum |
Central Asia, Turkmenistan |
sandy, areas of clayey |
|
|
Southwest coast of Africa |
sandy, rocky |
||
|
Western part of the Indo-Gangetic lowland |
sandy |
||
|
Great Victoria Desert |
South Australia |
sandy |
|
|
Kyzylkum |
Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan |
sandy, areas of clay and rocky |
|
|
Central Western Australia |
sandy, rocky |
||
|
west coast of South America |
sandy, rocky |
||
|
Big Nefud |
Northern part of the Arabian Peninsula |
sandy |
|
|
Registan |
Eastern Iranian Plateau |
sandy |
|
|
simpson desert |
Central Australia |
sandy, rocky |
Deserts - champions
1. The only part of the world where there are still no deserts is Europe, although everything may change in the near future. The process of desertification is observed on the territory of Kalmykia (Russia).
2. Most of the world's deserts (about 75% of their total area) are located in Africa.
3. The "highest" desert is Tsaidam in Central Asia, the average height of which is almost 3000 m above sea level.
4. The largest annual temperature range is in the Gobi Desert. It is about 95 ° C, because. in summer the temperature reaches +45 °С, and in winter -40 °С.
5. Deserts - "life-rich" territories. For example, in the Sahara there are about 4000 species of representatives of the animal world, including invertebrates, in particular, about 70 species of mammals, 80 species of birds, 80 species of ants, more than 300 species of beetles, etc. Species endemism reaches 40% in mammals, and 70% in insects.
_______________
The source of information: Romashova T.V. Geography in figures and facts: Educational manual / - Tomsk: 2008.
Deserts and semi-deserts are characterized by severe weather conditions and unique natural phenomena. Here there are animals and plants that practically do not use water, moving hills - dunes, evidence of the existence of ancient civilizations.
Deserts are natural areas with an arid climate. However, not all of them are characterized by hot weather and an abundance of sunlight; there are areas that are recognized as the coldest on planet Earth. Semi-deserts represent an average landscape between desert, steppe or savannah and form in arid (dry) climates on all continents except Antarctica.
How are formed
Predisposing factors for the emergence of deserts and semi-deserts are individual for each of them and include territorial location (continental or oceanic), features of the atmosphere and land structure, uneven distribution of heat and moisture.
The reasons for the formation of such natural zones are high rates of solar radiation and radiation, a small volume or lack of precipitation.
Cold deserts appear for other reasons. In the Arctic and Antarctica, snow mainly falls on the coast; clouds with precipitation practically do not reach the inner regions. In this case, the annual rate can fall for 1 time. As a result, snow drifts form over hundreds of years.
The relief in hot desert zones is diverse. They are open to the wind, the gusts of which carry small stones, sand, creating undulating sediments.
They are called dunes, their common type is a dune, the height of which reaches 30 meters. Ridge dunes grow up to 100 meters and have a length of up to 100 meters.
Where are: location on the map
Deserts and semi-deserts are located in the tropical, subtropical and temperate zones. Natural areas on planet Earth are presented on a map with names.
Mira
In the northern latitudes there are deserts and semi-deserts of the subtropical and temperate zones. At the same time, tropical ones are also present - in Mexico, on the Arabian Peninsula, the southwestern United States, and the Indo-Gangetic lowland.
Arabian Peninsula
USA
In Eurasia, desert zones are located in the Caspian lowland, on the Central Asian and South Kazakh plains, Central Asia, and the Near Asian highlands.
In the southern hemisphere, natural areas are less common. This includes a list of names: Namib in the Republic of Namibia, desert zones of Peru and Venezuela, Gibson, Atacama, Victoria, Kalahari, Patagonia, Gran Chaco, Great Sandy, Karoo in Southwest Africa, Simpson.
Namib and Kalahari
Venezuela
Deserts Victoria, Gibson, Great Sandy, Simpson
Patagonia
Gran Chaco
One of the largest deserts in the world, Rub al-Khali occupies a third of the Arabian Peninsula. Tourists visiting Dubai often opt for a safari tour of hot spots.
The vast deserts of Israel are presented on the map - these are the Judean and Negev.
Polar natural zones are located in the near-glacial regions of Eurasia, on the islands of the Canadian archipelago, in the north of Greenland.
Greenland
The desert regions of Asia, Africa, Australia are located at a level of 200-600 meters above sea level, in Central Africa and North America - 1000 meters. The borders of deserts with mountains are widespread. They prevent the advance of cyclones. Most of the precipitation falls only on one side of the highlands, on the other side they are absent or present in small volumes.
Sources of information about how many deserts there are on earth give the number 51, while 49 are real (not icy).
Russia
The country occupies a vast area with different types of climate, so the answer to the question of whether there are deserts in Russia is in the affirmative. There are not only hot zones, but also cold ones. On the territory of Russia, deserts and semi-deserts are distributed from the Caspian lowland to China, in the east of Kalmykia and in the southern part of the Astrakhan region. On the section of the left bank of the Volga, deserts and semi-deserts stretch to Kazakhstan. The Arctic zone is located in the region of the northern islands.
As you can see in the picture, semi-deserts are located in the northern part, they are characterized by a steppe landscape. To the south, the climate becomes arid, the vegetation cover thins out. The desert zone begins.
The largest desert in Russia, Europe is called the Ryn-sands, located in the Caspian Sea.
Kinds
Depending on the type of soil and soil, there are types of deserts:
- Sandy and sandy-gravel- are formed on loose deposits of ancient alluvial plains. In different territories they are called differently: in Africa - ergs, in Central Asia - kums, in Arabia - nefuds. At the same time, sands do not occupy the largest part of the desert zone. For example, in the Sahara they make up only 10%.
sandy deserts
Sand and gravel deserts
- Stony (hamadas), gypsum, gravel, gravel-pebble- their location on mountain ranges, uplands, low mountains, and so on. The formation of a solid surface is due to the physical weathering of material from cracks in the rocks, which fills the depressions. This species is the most common - in the Sahara, 70% of the territory belongs to it.
- Saline. They are characterized by a high concentration of salts. Territories are covered with a crust or bog that can suck a person or animal.
- clayey- the surface of the territory is a clay layer, characterized by low mobility and low water properties (dry quickly, do not allow moisture to penetrate under the clay).
- Loess- are formed in areas of accumulation of dusty, porous particles. They are characterized by a heterogeneous relief, the presence of a network of potholes, ravines.
- arctic- allocate snowy and snowless (dry). The former occupy 99% of the area of the Arctic deserts.
Arctic snow deserts
Arctic snowless deserts
Depending on the nature of precipitation, deserts are distinguished:
The driest desert - Atacama
Atacama is located on the west coast of South America in Chile. The coastal desert is located at the foot of the mountains, covering it with ridges from the rain, cold sea waters wash the hot shores.
Atacama is considered the driest natural area, with an average rainfall of 1 millimeter per year. In some areas, rain is observed 1 time in several decades. Significant precipitation was absent from 1570 to 1971. Some weather stations in the desert zone have never recorded rain.
In 2010, an anomalous phenomenon occurred there - snow fell, which covered several cities with snowdrifts.
In Atacama, there is a famous eleven-meter sculpture "Hand of the Desert", depicting a human palm, which protrudes three quarters from the sand. It symbolizes loneliness, grief, injustice, helplessness.
Atacama is known for a mysterious find - a humanoid mummy discovered in 2003 in the village of La Noria. Its size is 15 centimeters, instead of the usual 12 ribs, there are only 9, the skull has a pronounced elongated shape. For the outward resemblance to an alien creature, she received the name "Atakama humanoid".
However, scientists in their reports after the research are inclined to the earthly origin of the mummy girl. She probably suffered from progeria (rapid aging) and died either in the womb or after birth. There is a version that she lived for 7 years - this is due to the age of the skeleton.
In the desert on Mount Cerro Unica, there is the largest anthropomorphic geoglyph - a drawing 86 meters long, whose age is about 9 thousand years. He is called "Tarapaka", the Giant. The creators are unknown, it is possible to fully view the image from the aircraft.
The largest hot desert - Sahara
The natural zone is located on the territory of 10 states: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Chad, Sudan.
Her definition of "Queen of the Desert" is due to the huge area of \u200b\u200bthe territory (9,065,000 square kilometers). Many areas of the zone are uninhabited, settlements are observed only at reliable sources of water and vegetation.
The Sahara is full of secrets and mysteries.
She is known for mirages that lead travelers astray and doom them to death. People see oases, lakes and even entire cities, but it is impossible to get closer to them - they move away until they disperse altogether.
The version explaining the phenomenon calls the mirage a kind of lens that visually approximates objects that are actually much further away.
For tourists, special maps have been compiled indicating the places where phantom images are likely to appear.
In the Sahara, on the territory of Mauritania, astronauts discovered an amazing object - a ring with a diameter of 50 kilometers, called the Eye of Africa or the Richat Structure.
Its age is estimated at 500-600 million years, the origin is unknown.
The largest cold desert - Antarctica
In terms of the area occupied by the territory, it is recognized as the leader among all desert places, ahead of even the Sahara. According to Wikipedia, the area of the polar zone is 13,828,430 square kilometers. It is located on the island and mainland land of Antarctica.
In winter, the air temperature drops to -70 degrees, in summer the characteristic level is from -30 to -50 (not higher than -20). On the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, it is possible to increase the indicators in summer up to 10-12 degrees.
Precipitation is presented in the form of snow, their amount is from 30 mm to 1000 mm per year. Characterized by strong winds, storms, snowstorms. Nature is poor, flora and fauna are scarce and monotonous.
The most popular desert is the Mojave
Located in the southwestern United States of America, most of the territory is uninhabited.
However, the desert is popular with tourists, here are the major cities of Lancaster, St. George, Henderson and, of course, gambling Las Vegas.
Famous museums, national parks, reserves in the Mojave. Death Valley stands out among them. This is a national park, where bizarre forms of salt flats, canyons, sand dunes, and valleys are presented.
Even an experienced tourist is not easy to navigate in such a variety. Poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions, coyotes will not let you lose your vigilance.
Description of desert places
Natural zones are characterized by a variety of landscape and climate. Despite the harsh conditions, adapted species of animals, plants, and insects live in deserts and semi-deserts.
People also inhabit hot zones, run a household, find ways to interact with nature. However, in vast areas, due to the harsh environmental conditions, life is absent, the existence there for almost all organisms becomes impossible.
The soil
In desert zones, a weak development of soils is noted, in which water-soluble salts predominate over organic components. Vegetation covers less than 50% of the surface or is completely absent.
The gray-brown soil is characteristic of the elevated plains.
In deserts and semi-deserts, solonchaks with 1% concentration of easily soluble salts are often found.
Groundwater is predominantly mineralized. Upon reaching the surface of the soil, they are located in its upper layer, forming salinization.
The soil in subtropical deserts and semi-deserts is orange and brick red. Such soil is called red soil and yellow soil.
In the north of Africa, South and North America, gray soils are found in the deserts.
Climate
The climate in deserts and semi-deserts depends on its location. It is arid, hot, the air is slightly humidified, practically does not protect the soil from solar radiation.
The average temperature is +52 degrees, the maximum is +58. Excessive heating is associated with the lack of clouds and, accordingly, protection from direct sunlight. For the same reason, the temperature decreases markedly at night, since heat is not stored in the atmosphere.
Daily amplitudes in the deserts of the tropical zone are up to 40 degrees, in the temperate - up to 20. The latter are characterized by significant seasonal fluctuations. There are hot summers with temperatures in the range of +50 degrees and harsh winters, when the thermometer drops to -50, while the snow cover is small.
In hot deserts, rain is rare, but sometimes there are heavy downpours in which water is not absorbed into the soil. It flows into dry channels called wadis.
A characteristic feature of deserts is strong winds at a speed of 15-20 meters per second, sometimes more.
They transport surface material, forming sand and dust storms.
The desert zones of Russia are characterized by a sharply continental climate: dry and harsh with strong daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations. In summer, the level reaches more than +40 degrees, in winter it drops to -30.
Evaporation of precipitation exceeds the amount of precipitation, they are mainly observed in spring and summer.
Strong winds, dust storms and dry winds are typical.
There are no transitional seasons in the Arctic deserts. The polar night lasts 90 days, winter sets in with temperatures down to -60 degrees. Then summer comes with the polar day. It does not last long, while the temperature is within +3 degrees. Snow cover is constant, winter comes in 1 night.
Animal world
Living organisms living in deserts and semi-deserts have managed to adapt to harsh conditions.
From cold or heat, they hide in burrows, feed on insects, underground parts of plants.
reed cat
The carnivorous animals of the desert zones include the fennec fox, reed cats, cougars, and coyotes.
In the semi-desert you can meet a tiger.
Some representatives of the animal world have a developed system of thermoregulation. They withstand fluid loss up to a third of their own body weight (camel, gecko), and certain types of invertebrates - up to two-thirds of their weight.
North America and Asia are inhabited by a large number of reptiles: lizards, snakes, there are insects, including poisonous ones.
A large mammal, the saiga is also considered an inhabitant of hot natural areas.
In the Chihuahua Desert, located on the border of Texas, New Mexico and the Mexican states, pronghorn is often found feeding on all plants, including poisonous ones.
In the hot natural zone of Danakil, where the air temperature can rise to +60 degrees, wild donkeys, Grevy's zebra, Somali gazelle live on sparse vegetation.
wild donkey
In the deserts and semi-deserts of Russia, there are sandstone hares, hedgehogs, kulans, goitered gazelle, snakes, jerboas, ground squirrels, mice, and voles.
sandstone hare
Among predators, the steppe fox, polecat, and wolf are distinguished.
steppe fox
Spiders also live in natural areas: karakurt and tarantula. Among the birds there are steppe eagle, white-winged lark, white heron and so on.
steppe eagle
In the polar deserts, the animal world is scarce. Its representatives feed on seafood, vegetation. Polar bears, musk ox, arctic fox, seals, walruses, reindeer, hares live here.
Polar bear and walruses
Reindeer
Among the birds, eiders, gulls, terns, penguins and so on stand out.
Penguins
Plants
In deserts and semi-deserts, the flora is not rich and includes prickly cactus, date palm, hard-leaved grasses, acacia, saxaul, psammophyte shrubs, ephedra, soap tree, edible lichen.
Date palm
Psammophyte shrubs
Sandy natural zones are characterized by oases - "islands" with rich vegetation and reservoirs.
In the Russian deserts and semi-deserts, there are white and black wormwood, fescue, sarepta feather grass, viviparous bluegrass. The soil is not fertile.
Sarepta feather grass
Semi-deserts from April to November serve as pastures for livestock.
In some periods, natural areas flourish, filled with rich vegetation. For example, the Kyzylkum desert (“red sands”), which belongs to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and partly Turkmenistan, blooms in spring with a bright carpet of flowers and herbs.
Subsequently, they disappear under the rays of the scorching summer sun.
In the Takla-Makan desert in western China, most of the territory is completely devoid of vegetation cover, only in rare areas of groundwater occurrence thickets of tamarisk, reed appear, camel thorn, saxaul, and poplar grow along river valleys.
Camelthorn plant
In the Arctic desert, vegetation is practically absent. In summer, the surface of the earth is covered with moss and lichens, there are sedge and cereals, polar poppy, saxifrage, buttercup, and so on.
locals
People living in hot natural areas are forced to adapt to environmental conditions. In economic activity, pasture cattle breeding is distinguished.
Agriculture is used only in the valleys of large rivers, irrigation is used.
Oil and gas are produced in many natural areas. This is especially true for Asia.
In the deserts and semi-deserts of Russia, irrigated agriculture is practiced in the floodplains and deltas of large rivers (Volga, Syrdarya, Amudarya). A large number of wells and wells have been created for watering cattle, places for their wintering.
The most severe conditions for economic activity are noted in the stony and gravelly deserts, where agriculture is practically absent.
With a shortage of water, local residents develop various ways to get it. For example, in the driest Atacama Desert, the natives use "fog eliminators" - cylinders the size of a person to collect moisture. The fog condenses on the walls of the vessel, made of nylon threads, and flows into the barrel. With it, it is possible to collect up to 18 liters of water per day.
The nomadic inhabitants of Arabia, the Near and Middle East are called Bedouins.
Their culture is based on the invention of the tent and the domestication and breeding of camels. The Bedouin, together with his family, roams on a camel, which carries a portable dwelling and utensils.
reserves
Human interference is recognized as the main threat to deserts and their inhabitants. In addition to hunting for rare and endangered species of animals and birds, natural resources are being extracted in these zones - oil and gas.
Technological progress increases the need for them, which leads to an increase in the development of deposits. Mining pollutes nearby areas, causing an environmental disaster.
Anthropogenic impact in the Arctic contributes to the melting of ice, reducing the territory of cold deserts. Its disappearance will cause the death of a large number of representatives of the flora and fauna of the natural zone.
Environmental work is being carried out in Russia and throughout the world, national parks and reserves are being created.
Share of deserts on earth
The most sinister deserts are sandy, they cover 1/5 of the land. In addition to sandy deserts, there are also saline, clay and rocky deserts. Large expanses of eternal snow in Antarctica and the territories of the Arctic Circle are called snow or ice deserts. However, in our review we will focus on sandy deserts.
Sandy deserts are the hottest place on Earth, hot sand is heated to such temperatures that it burns the feet. An unprepared person cannot live in the desert without water and shade for a couple of days.
The largest sandy deserts are found in Africa, Eurasia and Australia, while the deserts of North and South America are relatively small.
Map of the location of the deserts of the world(increase)
Sahara. 9,065,000 km²
The Sahara Desert is the largest and hottest desert in the world, its area exceeds 9 million km², which is more than 50% of the territory of Russia. It covers almost all of North Africa: Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan, Chad, Libya and other countries.
The name "Sahara" is an Arabic translation of the Tuareg word for "desert". In summer, the air temperature can rise to 58°C, in winter it stays within 15-28°C.
In the Sahara, as in other sandy deserts, sandstorms are frequent, strong winds can carry sand dust even to Europe.
More than 150 thousand mirages are observed in the Sahara, which are marked on maps indicating which particular mirage is most often “showed” in this particular area - an oasis, a river or a well.
Precipitation in the south of the Sahara is less than in the north, there are especially dry periods lasting up to three years, during which there is no precipitation at all. The only source of water in the Sahara other than rain is the Nile, which crosses it in the east. However, thanks to underground waters in the waterless desert, there are oases with deep wells, it is in the oases that hotels are located for tourists who come to drive across the Sahara in jeeps, the most luxurious date palms and sweet grapes grow in the oases.
Arabian desert
Arabian desert. 2,330,000 km²
The Arabian Desert is the second largest desert in the world. The Arabian Desert is located on the Arabian Peninsula, is located in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, occupies part of Iraq, Syria, southern and eastern Jordan. The vast expanses of the Arabian Desert are occupied by moving dunes and sand massifs, in its center is Rub'al-Kali, one of the largest sand massifs in the world. Most of the territory is uninhabited due to frequent sand and dust storms and strong winds, high temperatures with large daily amplitudes common for deserts. The temperature range is 40-50°C in summer, the average temperature in winter is 5-15°C, although it can drop to 0°C.
Gobi. 1,166,000 km²
Gobi - one of the largest deserts in the world, ranks 3rd in the ranking. It is located in Central Asia, on the territory of Mongolia and China, stretches from the Altai and Tien Shan mountains in the east to the North China plateau in the west; in the north, the Gobi passes into the steppes on the territory of Mongolia, in the south it is limited by the Yellow River. The word "gobi" is of Mongolian origin and means "waterless place", this word in Central Asia denotes generally desert and semi-desert places. In terms of the totality of the desert territories, the Gobi is the largest desert in Asia.
australian desert
Australian desert. 647,000 km²
The deserts got a huge territory of Australia, almost half of the continent. A significant part of the Australian deserts, located in the west, are located on a huge plateau 200 m above sea level. Some deserts rise even higher, up to 600 m. The complex relief divides the giant Australian desert into several autonomous ones. The largest of them, the Great Sandy Desert, is located in the northwestern part of the continent, to the south lies the huge Great Victoria Desert. In the northern part of the Great Sandy Desert, the sands are red-brown in color, other areas are covered not with sand, but with dark rubble and pebbles.
Among the sandy deserts of Australia, the largest is the Arunta Desert, or the Simpson Desert. It is located in the central part of the continent, closer to the west.
Kalahari
Kalahari. 600,000 km²
The Kalahari Desert, the largest of the deserts in South Africa, covers an area of about 600 thousand square meters. km and is located on the territory of Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. The Kalahari Desert occupies the southwestern part of the depression of the same name, located at an altitude of 900 m. In the west, the edge of the Kalahari lies at an altitude of 1500 m above sea level, in the east - even higher; the lowest point of the desert is at an altitude of 840 m above sea level. The surface of the Kalahari is composed of horizontally lying continental strata of sandstones, pebbles and breccias.
Recently, the desert has been expanding its borders and encroaching on the territory of Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Precipitation (up to 500 mm) is confined to the summer period (November - April), but their value varies significantly both in time and in area. The Kalahari is one of the hottest areas in South Africa. The average maximum temperature is plus 29°, and the average minimum temperature is plus 12°.
Karakum
Karakum. 350,000 km²
The Karakum, a sandy desert in the south of Central Asia, occupies more than 80% of the entire territory of Turkmenistan.
Karakums in Turkmen - "black sand" (from the Turkic "kara" - black and "kum" - sand). Despite such a frightening name, the desert is inhabited: there are several thousand species of arthropods, several dozen species of reptiles, two dozen species of mammals and about three dozen species of birds, plants - about 270 species.
Turkmenbashi's plans were to replace the ugly desert with a beautiful forest, planting trees in some areas, and it was also planned to build a zoo for penguins on its territory, which would attract visitors from all over the world. After the death of the Father of all Turkmens, fortunately, nothing has been heard about these plans yet.
Desert. How many mysteries this word contains! How many civilizations are hidden under its endless sands. And how many alluring secrets she still has left! Therefore, in this article we will pay attention to the largest deserts in the world. So, get ready for a journey into the world of amazing and endless expanses.
1. Sahara Desert
The largest desert in the world is the Sahara. No wonder it is called the real Queen of the Desert. Its area is only slightly smaller than the territory of the United States of America, and is 9.1 million square kilometers. Sahara is located in the northern part of the African continent, and is part of such states as Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Mali, Sudan, Chad and Western Sahara.
Also, at the mention of mirages, almost everyone remembers the Sahara, since it is here that people most often see different oases. So, during the year the desert shows its guests from 100 to 200 thousand mirages. Experts even made special "mirage" maps for amateurs, in which the places of their most frequent appearance are indicated.
2. Arabian desert
The size of the Arabian Desert is more than 2.3 million square kilometers. It is considered the second great desert in the world. The place of its “deployment” is the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the territories of such states as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan.
The desert is famous for its frequent dust storms and strong winds, making most of it uninhabited. In addition, it is also striking that large jumps in daily temperatures occur in the Arabian Desert. So, for example, during the day, an egg laid on the sand becomes boiled after 10 minutes, and on the same night, stones can crack from frost.
3. Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert is located on the territory of China and Mongolia. It originates from the Altai Mountains and the Tien Shan, and ends in the steppes of Mongolia and borders on the Yellow River. The total area of the Gobi is 1.2 million square kilometers. The desert got its name from the Mongolian word, which translates as "waterless place". For comparison: the Gobi desert is 2 times larger than the US state of Texas.
4. australian desert
Everyone knows that Australia is a country where funny kangaroos and koalas live. In addition, this is the world of numerous cockatoos and endless beaches, where it is so nice to spend your holidays! However, few people know that almost half of the Australian continent is occupied by a huge desert.
The total area of the Australian desert is 647 thousand square kilometers. But this desert is not just a collection of sand, wave and wind. This is something original. So, here is not only a desert, consisting of sand, but also of stone, or rather of fine gravel. In addition, the desert in Australia amazes guests with its red dunes, which the Simpson Desert is famous for. The height of such formations reaches 40 meters!
5. Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert means “torturous” in the local Berber language, and in fact, many people remember this area in Africa as something completely unsuitable for life, and getting there often means dying a painful death. But let's not talk about sad things, because any desert is a danger to a person, and you need to travel in it very carefully.
So, the area of the Kalahari desert begins in Namibia and Botswana, and ends in the Republic of South Africa. The locals call it Curry Curry. Its total territory is 600 thousand square kilometers. In addition, experts note that every year the Kalahari area increases significantly, turning into a desert all new areas of the once good land. Among the countries that are suffering from the onset of the desert, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe should be mentioned.
6. Desert Karakum
The literal name of the Karakum desert in translation from Turkic means "black sands". And this is actually true, although we have been accustomed to bright yellow sweets of the same name since childhood. The total area of the desert is 350 thousand square kilometers. The height of the sand dunes in some places can reach 60 meters! The Karakum desert is located in most of Turkmenistan. There is small vegetation on its area, therefore, in certain seasons, local residents use the Karakum as a pasture for livestock.
7. Takla Makan Desert
The Takla Makan Desert is located in Central Asia. It is not as well known as other "record holders", but it also occupies an impressive area - 337 thousand square kilometers. In 2008, the desert was able to surprise everyone: record low temperatures were noted in it, and some places were even covered with snow!
8. Desert Salar de Uyuni
The Salar de Uyuni Desert is the world's largest salt desert. It is located in Bolivia. Experts estimate the amount of salt located on its territory as 10 billion tons.
It is unique that when it rains, the salt reserves dissolve in the water and turn the Salar de Uyuni into the largest salt lake, which is very shallow in depth and looks more like a mirror lying on the ground. This effect is achieved due to the fact that salt water has a different refractive index, which, when light is reflected, is similar to reflection in an ordinary mirror.
9. Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is the largest desert in Chile. It bears the title of the driest place on earth. However, even on this sun-scorched earth, plants manage to grow: they have a unique mechanism for surviving in harsh conditions. At the same time, in dry times, they do not grow and do not multiply, and this can happen even for several years, but with the advent of rain and moisture, they bloom in full.
10. Desert Antarctica
The desert of Antarctica is the only icy desert in the world. It is located on an area of more than 14.1 million square kilometers. Few people know that Antarctica is the driest place on earth! Such a climate is explained by the fact that the strongest cold literally “dries up” moisture, and the total amount of precipitation here does not exceed four centimeters per year. It is also interesting that it was in Antarctica that the lowest temperature on earth was recorded - minutes 89 ° C!
