Which continent is the driest on Earth by average precipitation?

Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth by average precipitation.

Although Antarctica is covered by a vast ice sheet, most of the continent receives very little snowfall or rain. The interior is a polar desert, with extremely low humidity and precipitation. Ice accumulated over immense periods because snowfall is sparse but remains frozen instead of melting.

Parts of the continent are exceptionally dry. The McMurdo Dry Valleys, near the Ross Sea, are among the coldest and driest deserts on Earth and contain exposed soil rather than continuous ice. Antarctica is also the coldest and windiest continent, and its high elevation intensifies the cold interior climate.

The continent’s ice sheet stores roughly 90 percent of the world’s fresh water by volume. This does not make Antarctica wet in the climatic sense: scientists classify much of it as desert because precipitation is so limited. The Sahara is the largest hot desert, but not the driest continent.