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Hello Students. Here you will learn all about the two main deserts - The Great Indian Desert & The Sahara Desert.

THE GREAT INDIAN DESERT. THE GREAT INDIAN DESERT.

THE GREAT INDIAN DESERT. The great Indian desert is also known as the Thar desert . It is the arid region in the Indian Subcontinen t and located partly in the north-western part of India that is Rajasthan and partly in the Sind province of eastern Pakistan. Around 15% of the Thar Desert is located in Pakistan, and around 85% of the Thar desert is in India. The great Indian desert (Thar), is the world’s 9th-largest hot subtropical desert and the world’s 17th-largest desert. The Thar desert derives its name from the word “ Thul ” it’s is the term generally used for the region’s sand ridges ..

Location & area of thar desert. Features Description Coordinates of Thar desert 27°N 71°E Area of Thar desert 238,254 sq. km Thar desert Location in India It lies in Rajasthan and extends to Punjab, Gujarat, and Haryana. Thar desert Location in Pakistan Sind province and in Punjab province the Thar desert continues as the Cholistan Desert. Thar desert Bordered by The Punjab Plain to the north and northeast, Irrigated Indus River plain to the west, the Rann of Kachchh to the south, and the Aravalli Range to the southeast..

MAP VIEW OF THAR DESERT.

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF THAR DESERT.

Land of the Thar Desert. The Thar Desert in the northeast extends from the Aravalli Hills to Haryana, Punjab, and in the north region, to Gujarat Rann of Kutch along the coastal region. On the west north-west side, it stretches to the Indus River alluvial plains. The Thar Desert presents the landfill of sand dunes, low barren hills ( bhakars ), and sandy plains..

Rainfall in the Thar Desert. Thar desert is the rain deficit region, the rainfall every year in the Thar desert is limited to 100 mm to 500 mm and most of the rain falls between the month of June to September that is the southwest monsoon. The rainfall is also every year fluctuating..

River in the Thar Desert. The only river in the great Indian desert (Thar Desert) is the Luni River, it originates from the Aravalli range in Pushkar valley near Ajmer and after covering the distance of 530 km it ends in Gujarat Rann of Kutch..

Lakes in the Thar Desert A ll these lakes collect and receive water during the rainfall and are used by the local people throughout the year. T he saline lakes beds (playas) which are locally known as “ dhand’s ” are found throughout the regions. There are many saltwater lakes in the thar desert these lakes are:-.

T he S oil in the Thar D esert T he soil generally in the Thar D esert is of infertile nature and calcareous (calcium-bearing) and coarse texture. T he soils mainly found in the thar desert are given below..

0 0 00000. Thar Desert Weather and Temperature. The hottest month in the Thar Desert is the month of May and June with the approximate temperature rises to 50 O C (122 O F), and the coldest month in the Thar Desert is January with a temperature range of 5 o C to 10 o C. In the month of May and June dust storms are very common with the speed of 140 to 150 km per hour..

Vegetation in the Thar Desert. The natural vegetation in the Thar Desert is thorn scrub forest which is scattered in patches throughout the Thar Desert. The size of these patches decreases from east to west with the decrease in rainfall. The tree name Khajri or Khejri grows throughout the entire Thar desert plain..

Fauna (birds & animals) in the Thar Desert. Among the migratory birds, sand grouse, ducks, and geese are common. The desert is also the home of the endangered great bustard. The Thar Desert has a wide variety of lizards (that is 23 species of lizards) and 25 species of snakes that are endemic to the region. The thinly populated grasslands support quail, chikara (gazelles), blackbucks, Indian wild ass, and francolins (partridges). The Thar desert is also the home of endangered Great Indian Bustard ..

PEOPLE IN THE THAR DESERT. A total of 40% of the population of Rajasthan lives in this region which is widely scattered in this region has a population density of 83 people per sq. km. The main inhabitants of this Thar Desert in India are Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains. The languages which are used in this region primarily are the Rajasthani language (Marwari) in the eastern and central Thar region, Lahnda in the northwest, Sindhi in the southwest region. Rajputs are the prominent group inhabit in the centra region of Thar..

Places to visit in the thar desert. Since the Thar Desert straddles more than three states in India, there are ample places that one can visit. These lie between Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. Those of tourist interest mostly lie in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Here are some of the best places to visit in the Thar Desert. Jaisalmer – Known as the ‘Golden City’, Jaisalmer is bathed in the shades of the sand and is famous for the Jaisalmer Fort and gorgeous sand dunes. Jodhpur – The Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur is the beacon to the old city – the most interesting part of town. Bikaner – An erstwhile royal stronghold, Bikaner is also home to forts, palaces, ancient temples and great local Rajasthani food. Rann of Kutch – This desert stretch of Gujarat is a salt marsh that spreads over 7000 sq kms and is home to a number of wild asses and craft rooted villages..

THE ECONOMY OF THE THAR DESERT. The main source of economy of Thar desert is animal husbandry and ecotourism for camels, buffalo, oxen, sheep, and goats are the widely used animals in the Thar Desert. While, the Jaisalmer region is a world-famous tourist destination, which attracts tourists from all over the world..

THE SAHARA DESERT.

THE SAHARA DESERT. The Sahara, located in Northern Africa, is the world's largest hot desert and second largest desert after Antarctica at over 3.5 million square miles (9 million square kilometers). Almost as large as the United States , it crosses the borders of 11 nations. While much of the desert is uninhabited, two million people are scattered across its vast expanses, not including those who live along the Nile and Niger river banks. It is bounded in the east by the Red Sea and it stretches west to the Atlantic Ocean . To the north, the Sahara Desert's northern boundary is the Mediterranean Sea , while in the south it ends at the Sahel, an area where the desert landscape transforms into a semi-arid tropical savanna. The name Sahara is an English pronunciation of the Arabic word for desert ..

MAP VIEW OF SAHARA DESERT.

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF SAHARA DESERT. The Sahara's topographical features include shallow basins, large oasis depressions, serirs or regs (gravel-covered plains), plateaus, mountains, sand sheets, dunes and sand seas (ergs). The highest part of the desert is at the summit of Mount Koussi , which is 11,204 feet (3,415 m) high. However, the lowest point of the Sahara is 436 feet (133 m) below sea level: in the Qattera Depression in Egypt. Over 25 percent of the Sahara's surface is covered by sand sheets and dunes. The most common types of dunes include tied dunes, blow out dunes, barchan and transverse dunes, longitudinal seirfs , and complex sand seas. Within the Sahara are several pyramidal dunes that reach over 500 feet in height while the draa , a mountainous sand ridge, reaches over 1,000 feet. Researchers have for many years tried to figure out how these dunes were formed, but the case remains unsolved..

CLIMATE. The Sahara Desert features a hot desert climate . The Sahara Desert is one of the driest and hottest regions of the world, with a mean temperature sometimes over 30 °C and the average high temperatures in summer are over 40 °C for months at a time, and can even soar to 47 °C. Precipitation (Rainfall) in the Sahara Desert is scarce, as the whole desert generally receives less than 100 millimetres of rain per year except on the northern most and southern most edge as well as in the highest desert mountains. More than half of the desert area is hyper-arid and virtually rainless, with an average annual precipitation below 50 millimetres (2.0 in) and many consecutive years may pass without any rainfall. Local inhabitants protect themselves from the heat, the sunshine, the dry air, the high diurnal temperature ranges and the sometimes dusty or sandy winds by covering their heads, such as the cheche garment worn by Tuareg ..

ARE THERE ANY RIVERS IN THE SAHARA DESERT?. Although water is scarce across the entire region, the Sahara contains two permanent rivers (the Nile and the Niger), as well as at least 20 seasonal lakes and huge aquifers, which are the primary sources of water for more than 90 major oasis in the desert..

FLORA AND FAUNA. Vegetation in the Sahara desert includes cactus, date palms, and acacia. In some places, there are oasis – green islands with date palms surrounding them. Camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, many varieties of snakes, and lizards are the prominent animal species living there..

PEOPLE. The hottest desert despite its harsh climate has been inhabited by various groups of people, who pursue different activities. Among them are the Bedouins and Tuaregs. These groups are nomadic tribes rearing livestock such as goats, sheep, camels, and horses. These animals provide them with milk, hides from which they make leather for belts, slippers, water bottles; hair is used formats, carpets, clothes, and blankets..