Which continent is also the world’s largest desert by total area?

Antarctica is the world’s largest desert by total area.

A desert is defined by very low precipitation, not by heat or sand. Antarctica receives little annual precipitation because its extremely cold air holds little moisture. Much of the continent’s interior gets less precipitation than many recognized hot deserts.

Antarctica is also the coldest, windiest, and highest continent. Its ice sheet covers about 98% of the land and stores most of Earth’s fresh water. The Sahara is the largest hot desert, but it is smaller than Antarctica overall.

The Antarctic desert classification concerns climate and precipitation, even though the continent is covered by enormous quantities of ice accumulated over long periods.