Which desert is known as the Empty Quarter?

Rub' al Khali is the desert known as the Empty Quarter.

Its Arabic name means “the Empty Quarter,” reflecting the region’s immense size and historically sparse settlement. Covering about 650,000 square kilometres, it occupies much of the southern Arabian Peninsula across Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert.

Rub' al Khali is famous for its enormous sand seas, with dunes reaching roughly 250 metres in height. The landscape also includes gravel plains, gypsum deposits, salt flats, and ancient lake beds. Rainfall is extremely scarce; many areas receive less than 50 millimetres annually. Despite the harsh environment, Bedouin communities have long used routes around its margins and through accessible sections.

The Kalahari, Gobi, and Sahara are all major deserts, but none is called the Empty Quarter. European explorers Bertram Thomas and St John Philby made pioneering journeys there in the 1930s, while Wilfred Thesiger crossed and mapped large parts between 1946 and 1950. The name refers to the desert itself, not to a separate country or political region.