MCQ on Important Deserts of the World

In exams like SSC, Banking, Railways, and others, we find many questions from the Indian Geography section. This section is considered very important and questions are frequently asked in exams. We will provide topic-wise practice questions so that students can be able to practice more and more and get most of the questions correct in this section.

In this article, we will provide a Practice set from the important Deserts of the World.

Did You know?

Q. Which is the world’s largest desert?

Ans: In terms of sheer area, the Antarctic Desert is the world’s largest desert.

List of Major Deserts in the World with their Location

Important Deserts	Type of desert	Location	Area (sq mi)	Area (km²)
Antarctica	Polar ice and tundra	Antarctica	5500000	14000000
Arctic	Polar ice and tundra	Northern America (Alaska, Canada and Greenland) Northern Europe (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) Eastern Europe (European Russia) North Asia (Siberia)	5400000	13985000
Sahara	Subtropical	North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia) West Africa (Mali, Mauritania and Niger) Middle Africa (Chad) East Africa (Eritrea)	3,300,000	9,000,000
Australian Desert	Subtropical	Australia	1000000	2700000
Arabian Desert	Subtropical	Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen)	900000	2,330,000
Gobi Desert	Cold Winter	East Asia (China and Mongolia)	500000	1295000
Kalahari Desert	Subtropical	Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia and South Africa) Middle Africa (Angola)	360000	900,000
Patagonian Desert	Cold Winter	South America (Argentina and Chile)	200000	620000
Syrian Desert	Subtropical	Western Asia (Iraq, Jordan, and Syria)	200000	520,000
Great Basin	Cold Winter	United States	190000	492,000
Chihuahuan Desert	Subtropical	Central America (Mexico) Northern America (United States)	175000	450,000
Karakum Desert	Cold Winter	Turkmenistan	135000	350,000
Colorado Plateau	Cold Winter	United States	130000	337,000
Sonoran Desert	Subtropical	Central America (Mexico) Northern America (United States)	120000	310,000
Kyzylkum Desert	Cold Winter	Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)	115000	300,000
Taklamakan Desert	Cold Winter	China	105000	270000
Thar Desert	Subtropical	Indian Subcontinent (India and Pakistan)	77000	200,000
Dasht-e Margo	Subtropical	Afghanistan	58000	150000
Registan Desert	Subtropical	Afghanistan	56400	146000
Atacama Desert	Mild Coastal	South America (Chile and Peru)	54000	140,000
Mojave Desert	Subtropical	United States	48000	124,000
Columbia Basin	Cold Winter	United States	32100	83,100
Namib Desert	Cool Coastal	Southern Africa (Namibia) Middle Africa (Angola)	31000	81,000
Dasht-e Kavir	Subtropical	Iran	30000	77,000
Dasht-e Loot	Subtropical	Iran	20100	52,000

MCQs on Important Deserts of the World

Que 1. Which is the largest desert in the world? 
(a) Sahara
(b) The Arctic
(c) The Antarctic
(d) The Gobi

Ans. (c)The Antarctic
Explanation– The Antarctic Desert is the largest in the world and covers the whole of Antarctica.

Que 2. Which of the given below is the hottest desert in the world?
(a) The Arctic
(b) Sahara
(c) The Gobi 
(d) Thar

Ans. (b) Sahara
Explanation– The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world.

Que 3. Which is the largest desert in Asia?
(a) Gobi 
(b) Thar
(c) Sahara 
(d) None of these

Ans. (a)  Gobi  
Explanation-The Gobi Desert is the largest in Asia.

Que 4. Which of the given deserts is the largest cold desert?
(a) Sahara
(b) Antarctic 
(c) Thar
(d) None of these

Ans. (b) Antarctic Desert
Explanation– Antarctic Desert is the largest cold desert.

Que 5. The Gobi Desert lies in which among the following countries?
(a)  Magnolia
(b) Pakistan
(c) Afghanistan
(d) None of these

Ans. (a) Magnolia
Explanation– The Gobi Desert covers a large part of the countries of Mongolia and China.

Que 6. Where is the Thar Desert located in India? 
(a) Goa 
(b) Kerala
(c)  Rajasthan
(d) None of these

Ans. (c) Rajasthan
Explanation– The Thar Desert is located in Rajasthan.

Que 7. Name the largest desert in South Africa.
(a) Chalbi desert 
(b) Thar
(c) the Kalahari Desert
(d) None of these

Ans. (c) Kalahari Desert
Explanation– the Kalahari Desert is the largest in South Africa.

Que 8. The Atacama Desert covers which among the following countries?
(a) Coastal region of Peru and some parts of north Chile
(b) Central south America
(c) Western South America
(d) None of these

Ans. (a) Coastal region of Peru and some parts of north Chile
Explanation– The Atacama Desert covers the Coastal region of Peru and some parts of northern Chile.

Que 9. What is the main reason for Kalahari being a desert?
(a) The cold currents near the coast
(b) It lies on the west coast in the tropics
(c) its location in the tropics
(d) that its people are primitive

Ans. (b) It lies on the west coast in the tropics 
Explanation– The main reason for the Kalahari Desert is to be located on the west coast in the tropics. 

Que 10. Find the odd one out? 
(a) Sahara desert
(b) Kalahari desert
(c) Namib desert
(d) Gobi desert

Ans. (d) Gobi desert
Explanation– Gobi desert lies in Asia, rest of the deserts lie in Africa.

Que 11. Which one of the following deserts is known for its vast deposits of nitrates?
(a) Atacama 
(b) Kalahari
(c) Gobi 
(d) Sahara

Ans.(a) Atacama 
Explanation– Atacama deserts are famous for deposits of nitrates.

Que 12. Where is the situated in the Sahara Desert?
(a) USA 
(b) Australia
(c) Kolli hills
(d)  North Africa

Ans. (d) North Africa
Explanation– the Sahara Desert is located in the northern portion of Africa.

Que.13 what is the colour of desert soil?
(a) Black 
(b) Green
(c)  White 
(d) Gray-colour

Ans. (d) Gray-colour
Explanation– Desert soils may be grey-colour, brown, or even brick-red.

Que 14. What kind of crops is grown in the desert?? 
(a) Cotton 
(b) Barley
(c) Sugarcane 
(d) None of these

Ans. (a) Cotton
Explanation– Cotton, and wheat crops are grown in the desert.

Que 15. What is desertification?
(a) The process of land losing nutrients
(b) The process of land turning into a desert as the quality of the soil declines over time
(c)  The process of land losing vegetation
(d) None of these 

Ans. (b) The process of land turning into a desert as the quality of the soil declines over time 
Explanation– Desertification is the process of land turning into a desert as the quality of the soil declines over time.

Que 16. The great Victoria Desert is situated in? 
(a) Africa
(b) North America
(c) Europe
(d) Australia

Ans. (d) Australia
Explanation– Grate Victoria desert is situated in Australia.

Que 17. Where is the Great Basin desert located?
(a) USA
(b) Peru
(c) China
(d) None of these

Ans.(a) USA
Explanation– The Great Basin desert is located in the USA.

Que 18. Where is the Patagonian desert located?
(a) USA
(b) Chile
(c) Southern Argentina
(d) None of the above

Ans. (c) Southern Argentina
Explanation– The Patagonian desert is located in southern Argentina.

Que 19. Which of the following desert-less continent?
(a) Europe
(b) Africa
(c) Asia
(d) All of these

Ans. (a) Europe
Explanation– Europe is the only continent without a desert.

Que 20. Does Taklamakan Desert lie in which of the given options?
(a) South Africa
(b) USA
(c) China
(d) None of these

Ans. (c) China
Explanation– The Taklamakan Desert is situated in China.

Important Deserts of the World- FAQs

What are the types of the desert?

Yes, there are four different types of deserts in the world: semi-arid, cold, coastal, and hot and dry, also referred to as arid deserts.

How big is the Sahara desert?

The Sahara desert spans 3.5 million square metres.

How big and what kind of desert is the Thar desert?

The Thar Desert spans 238,254 square kilometres and is classified as a subtropical desert.

Where is the Kalahari Desert located?

South Africa is home to the Kalahari Desert.