TYPE OF PEOPLE IN DESERT Inhabitants of the Kalahari DesertThe San people who inhabit the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa have lived on this mostly red-soiled desert for thousands of years. Although most nowlive as farmers and cattle raisers, a small number of nomads still subsist by gathering wild plants and fruit from the sparse vegetation of the region and by hunting for meat.
PEOPLE IN NAMIB DESERT The Namib Desert, stretching over 1900 km (1200 mi) along the coast of Namibia insouthwest Africa, receives less than two inches of rain a year, as a result of the effects of the cold Benguela Current. This region has sparse vegetation and few people. The Namib Desert extends along theAtlantic Coast in Africa for 1,500km (930 mi), mostly in Namibia.
PEOPLE IN SAHARA DESERT Most of Niger’s population avoids the desolate Sahara Desert in the north of the country, opting to livein the semiarid central region or the wetter, more fertile southern region. Many people engage in subsistence farming, despite the country’s mostly arid terrain. Groups of straw huts, such as the community seen here, dot the landscape, and their residents usually raise livestock or maintain small farm plots.
PEOPLE IN GOBI DESERT The largest desert in Asia, the Gobi straddles the border between Mongolia and China. It contains a series of basins that are divided by low, flat-topped ranges and isolated hills, as pictured here. The Gobi Desert, located in Mongolia and northern China, is a windswept, nearly treeless wasteland. It covers more than 1,300,000 sq km (500,000 sq mi) and ranks as the coldest, most northern desert in the world. The terrain consists mostly of dry, rocky, sandy soil. Only 5 percent of the desert is covered with sand dunes.
SOME ANIMALS OF DESERT Desert JerboaDesert Tortoise