great victoria desert nature reserve

  Great Victoria Desert

The Great Victoria Desert, named in honour of Queen Victoria by explorer Ernest Giles in 1875, is a great stretch of arid and sparsely populated desert in southern Australia, falling inside the states of Western Australia and South Australia. The desert is approximately 700 kilometres (435 miles) wide from east to west. A protected area of Western Australia, the Great Victoria Desert consists of sandhills, salt lakes and grasslands. The average annual rainfall is 200 to 250 milimetres (8 to 10 inches), and the average daytime temperature is from 32 to 40° Celsius (90 to 140° Fahrenheit) in summer, and 18 to 23° Celsius (64-75° Fahrenheit) in winter. Due to the aridity and dryness of the desert, almost no farming activity is carried out there. Various Australian Aboriginal groups inhabit the Great Victoria Desert, including the Kogara and Mirning

Word Browser