Lexi Webster
Australia is the driest inhabited continent, with about 40% of its land covered by dunes. The country is home to the largest intact desert on Earth, and its deserts are diverse, consisting of semi-desert grassy or mountainous landscapes, xeric shrubs, salt pans, stony deserts, red sand dunes, sandstone mesas, rocky plains, open tree savannahs, and bushland. The Australian desert is classified as arid, with temperatures ranging from above 10°C to exceeding 35°C in the summer months. The prevailing winds in Australia come from the east, and the mountains along the eastern coast cause air masses to lift, cool, and release moisture as rain. This results in dryer air moving west, contributing to the arid conditions in the interior and western regions of the country. Indigenous Australians have a long history of occupying desert regions, with strong cultural connections to these lands.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition of a desert | A desolate, uninhabited region that receives less than 250 to 500 millimetres of precipitation annually |
| Percentage of Australia covered by dunes | 40% |
| Australia's position in terms of fertility | Least fertile soils |
| Diversity of the Great Australian Desert | Semi-desert grassy or mountainous landscapes, xeric shrubs, salt pans, gibber (stony) deserts, red sand dunes, sandstone mesas, rocky plains, open tree savannahs and bushland with a few rivers and salt lakes |
| Size of the Great Australian Desert | 3 million km2 (1.2 million sq mi) |
| Aboriginal Australians in the desert | Many Aboriginal Australians live in settlements in the desert, and about a third of Australia's deserts are now Aboriginal lands |
| Indigenous Australians in the desert | Indigenous Australians have lived in the desert for at least 50,000 years |
| Rock art and archaeological sites | The rock art and archaeological site at Karnatukul was inhabited for up to 25,000 years. The oldest examples of rock art in Western Australia's Pilbara region and the Olary district of South Australia are estimated to be around 40,000 years old. |
| Threats to desert wildlife | Changed fire regimes, feral animals, weeds, and climate change |
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What You'll Learn
Australia is the driest inhabited continent
The unique climate of Australia's deserts can be attributed to various geographical and climatic factors. One significant influence is the prevailing winds that blow from the east. As these winds encounter mountains along the eastern coast, they are forced to rise, leading to the cooling and condensation of moisture, resulting in rainfall. Consequently, the air moving west becomes drier, contributing to the arid conditions in the central and western regions of the country.
The Western Australian Current, with its polar origin, also plays a role in the dryness of the continent. The cold sea current prevents significant rainfall in the interior of Western Australia, leading to the formation of deserts. Additionally, the Capricorn Orogeny, a geological feature, is partly responsible for assembling the Western Australian landmass.
Despite the arid conditions, Australia's deserts are not uninhabited. Indigenous Australians have lived in these regions for at least 50,000 years, retaining strong cultural connections to their traditional lands. The deserts are also home to a diverse range of wildlife, including bilbies, dunnarts, kangaroos, wallabies, bats, dingoes, and numerous bird and reptile species.
The introduction of non-native species, such as camels and domestic cats, over the last two centuries has, however, posed significant threats to native wildlife. Conservation efforts are now in place to assist Indigenous Australians in managing these threats and preserving the unique desert ecosystems of the driest inhabited continent on Earth.
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The Great Australian Desert is diverse
Australia is a massive region that contains some of the most unique environments and creatures found anywhere in the world. The outer edge of the country contains millions of people, but the centre regions of the continent are sparsely populated. This region with little to no people is collectively known as the Great Australian Desert.
The Great Australian Desert is the fourth-largest desert in the world, covering 3 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles) or 18% of the Australian mainland. It is made up of smaller deserts and arid regions, including the Tanami, Great Sandy, Little Sandy, Gibson, and Great Victoria Deserts in Western Australia, and the Simpson, Sturt, Strzelecki, and Tirari Deserts in the east. The largest desert in this collective is the Great Victoria Desert, and the smallest is the Pedirka Desert.
The Great Australian Desert has a rich cultural history, with Indigenous Australians having lived in the desert for at least 50,000 years and occupying all Outback regions when Europeans first entered central Australia in the 1800s. Important cultural sites include Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa, and the rock art and archaeological site at Karnatukul, estimated to have been inhabited for up to 25,000 years. The desert has also produced many important artists, including Albert Namatjira, who was born in Hermannsburg in the Great Sandy Desert. About a third of Australia's deserts are now Aboriginal lands, with a large part managed as nature reserves.
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Indigenous Australians have lived in the desert for at least 50,000 years
Australia is the driest inhabited continent, with around 40% of the country covered by dunes. The Great Australian Desert, which covers about 18% of the mainland, is diverse, consisting of semi-desert grassy or mountainous landscapes, xeric shrubs, salt pans, stony deserts, red sand dunes, sandstone mesas, rocky plains, open tree savannahs, and bushland.
The earliest evidence of rock art in Western Australia's Pilbara region and the Olary district of South Australia is estimated to be around 40,000 years old. A charcoal drawing on a small rock fragment found during the excavation of the Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter in south-western Arnhem Land is the oldest firmly dated evidence of rock art painting in Australia. The isolated desert areas remained undeveloped for a long time, with the Spinifex people first having contact with whites in the 1950s due to nuclear weapons testing.
Indigenous Australians have retained strong physical and cultural links to their traditional country and are legally recognised as the traditional owners of large parts of the Outback under Commonwealth Native Title legislation. About a third of Australia's deserts are now Aboriginal lands, with a large part managed by them as a nature reserve. Several tribes have land use rights for almost all other desert regions, and many Aboriginal people live in settlements in the deserts today.
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The Australian desert is home to unique wildlife
Australia is the driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. About 40% of the country is covered by dunes, and about 18% of the Australian mainland is covered in deserts. Deserts in the interior and south of the country lack significant summer rains. The desert in western Australia can be explained by the little evaporation of the cold sea current of the West Australian Current, of polar origin, which prevents significant rainfall in the interior of the continent.
Despite the harsh climate, the Australian desert is not a barren wasteland. It is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including bilbies, dunnarts, kangaroos, wallabies, bats, dingoes, native rodents, birds, reptiles, and even some frogs. The highly varied habitat types of the Australian deserts support this huge diversity of wildlife, most of which cannot be found anywhere else on Earth.
Indigenous Australians have lived in the desert for at least 50,000 years and occupied all Outback regions, including the driest deserts, when Europeans first entered central Australia in the 1800s. Many Indigenous Australians retain strong physical and cultural links to their traditional country and are legally recognised as the traditional owners of large parts of the Outback. Aboriginal tribes and clans have been nomadic in the desert areas for thousands of years, subsisting on the local flora and fauna, now known as bush food, and carefully managing their sources of drinking water.
The Australian desert is also home to the largest population of feral camels in the world. Feral cats and foxes, introduced during European settlement, have contributed to the decline of the bilby population, which is now considered vulnerable. Other unique Australian desert animals include Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, also known as the Leadbeater's cockatoo or pink cockatoo, which is restricted to arid and semi-arid inland areas of Australia.
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The Western Desert cultural region has been inhabited for 25,000 years
Australia is the driest inhabited continent, with about 40% of the country covered by dunes. About 18% of the Australian mainland is covered by deserts, but when including areas that receive little rain, this figure rises to about 35%. The Western Desert cultural bloc (WDCB) is a cultural region in central Australia covering about 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi). It is used to describe a group of linguistically and culturally similar Aboriginal Australian nations. The term Western Desert cultural bloc is often used by anthropologists and linguists when discussing the 40 or so Aboriginal groups that live there, who speak dialects of one language, often called the Western Desert language.
More than 25,000 stone artefacts were recovered from the excavations of Karnatukul, along with pigments, charcoal from hearths, and animal remains. Most of these remains date to the last millennium. However, an early backed microlith (a pointed tool with one sharp edge) was found to be around 43,000 years old. This tool is at least 15,000 years older than other known Australian examples. Other specimens have been recovered from the arid zone in South Australia, dated to around 24,000 years ago.
The Western Desert includes the Gibson, Great Victoria, Great Sandy, and Little Sandy Deserts in the states of the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia. The Little Sandy Desert connects to the Great Sandy Desert and is similar in terms of landscape and vegetation. The Western Desert covers a vast area of the interior of the continent, extending across western South Australia into central and central northern Western Australia (south of the Kimberleys) and south-western Northern Territory. It includes most of the hill country in the north and stretches from the Nullarbor in the south to the Kimberley in the north, and from the Percival Lakes in the west through to the Pintupi lands in the Northern Territory.
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Frequently asked questions
Australia is the driest inhabited continent, with about 40% of the country covered by dunes. The country is home to the largest intact desert on Earth, with diverse landscapes and wildlife.
The Australian desert consists of semi-desert grassy or mountainous landscapes, xeric shrubs, salt pans, stony deserts, red sand dunes, sandstone mesas, rocky plains, open tree savannahs, and bushland. The Australian desert is classified as arid, with temperatures ranging from above 10°C to exceeding 35°C in the summer months.
Yes, Indigenous Australians have lived in the desert for at least 50,000 years and continue to do so today. They retain strong physical and cultural connections to their traditional country and are legally recognised as the traditional owners of large parts of the Outback.
