Antarctica is the world’s largest desert by annual precipitation.
A desert is defined by dryness, not heat or sand. Antarctica receives very little precipitation across its enormous ice-covered area, with the interior being especially arid. Most of that precipitation falls as snow, which accumulates because temperatures are too low for widespread melting.
At about 14 million square kilometres, Antarctica is larger than Europe and Australia. The Sahara is the largest hot desert, but it is smaller than Antarctica. Antarctica is also the coldest, windiest and highest continent, with an average elevation boosted by its thick ice sheet.
The Antarctic ice sheet stores roughly 90% of the world’s ice and about 60% of its fresh water. Coastal areas can receive more snowfall than the interior, while some valleys near the Ross Sea are famously almost ice-free.