Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth. It’s located in the western part of South America and covers a strip of land with a length of about 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) and a total area of 104,741 square kilometers (40,441 square miles). This desert plateau is located in both Chile and Peru and is bordered by the Andes Mountains Range and Chilean Coast Range to the east, as well as the Pacific Ocean to the West.
Because it’s bordered by two major mountain ranges, a double rain shadow effect is created which has turned this place into the driest place on the planet. It’s also the only true desert in the world that receives less rainfall than the polar deserts. Its landscape is desolate primarily and consists of salt lakes and lava fields, as well as many stony areas which resemble the surface of Mars. because of this, it has been used as a simulation ground for various Mars expeditions.
