3. Sahara Desert
Size of the desert: 9,400,000 square kilometers
More than four times the size of the Arabian Desert, the Sahara Desert is located in Chad, Libya, Egypt, Niger, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Mali. While many know it to be the largest desert in the world, it is actually the third largest. The desert is sparsely populated due to its uninhabitable features with extremely high temperatures and a climate that basically prohibits rainfall.
