The Atacama Desert is located in Chile, along the Pacific coast in the country’s north. It stretches for roughly 1,600 kilometres between the Andes and the Chilean Coastal Range.
The Atacama is widely described as the driest non-polar desert on Earth. Some interior locations receive only a few millimetres of rain annually, and certain weather stations have recorded periods of several years without measurable rainfall. Its extreme dryness results from several forces working together: the cold Humboldt Current, persistent high pressure over the Pacific, and rain-shadow effects from surrounding mountains.
The desert is not an empty wasteland. Coastal fog called camanchaca can provide moisture for lichens, algae, and specialised plants. The region has also supported human communities for thousands of years, including the Chinchorro culture, known for some of the world’s earliest deliberate mummification.
People sometimes associate the Atacama with Peru because some broader definitions include arid areas in southern Peru. However, the standard quiz answer for the Atacama Desert’s main location is Chile. The desert’s Mars-like terrain has also made it a testing ground for planetary science and rover instruments.