Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth, despite being covered in ice.
A desert is defined by very low precipitation, not by heat or the presence of sand. Antarctica receives little precipitation across most of its interior, so it is classified as a polar desert. The continent covers about 14 million square kilometres, making it larger than Europe and Australia.
The Antarctic ice sheet contains around 90 percent of the world’s ice and about 70 percent of its fresh water. In the interior, snowfall accumulates slowly and compresses into ice over long periods. Coastal areas generally receive more precipitation than the high, dry plateau.
Antarctica is also the coldest, windiest, and highest continent on average. The McMurdo Dry Valleys are among its most extreme landscapes, with very little snow or ice at the surface. The Sahara is the largest hot desert, but Antarctica is larger when all desert types are included.