Which Australian desert lies mostly in the Northern Territory and Western Australia?

Which Australian desert lies mostly in the Northern Territory and Western Australia? The answer is the Tanami Desert.

The Tanami occupies about 260,000 square kilometres across northern Australia, forming a vast landscape of rocky ground, sand plains, low hills and spinifex grasslands. It is an interim Australian bioregion and is crossed by the Tanami Track, a remote route linking central Australia with the Kimberley region.

The desert is part of the traditional lands of several Aboriginal peoples, including Warlpiri and Kukatja communities. “Tanami” is thought to be an English rendering of the Warlpiri name Jarnami, associated with rock holes believed never to run dry.

A common mix-up is with the Gibson Desert, which lies farther south and mostly in Western Australia. The Tanami is also notable for rare wildlife, gold mining operations and the Southern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area, declared in 2012.