The Atacama Desert is the driest desert on Earth, so dry in fact, that is it approximately 50 times drier than America's Death Valley. The Atacama Desert is present in four South American countries, is has the largest occurrence in Chile but also forms part of Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. The rich mineral deposits found in the Atacama Desert led to a land border dispute during the 19th Century that resulted in the War of the Pacific.

Factsmania has compiled printable Atacama Desert fact sheets including important information and key facts about the Atacama Desert biome and its array of animal and plant life species, the desert's hot and cold weather conditions and climate, fluctuating temperature, extremely low precipitation, sparse vegetation, formation, size and its South American location on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, majorly in Chile.

Interesting Atacama Desert Facts for Kids:- Kids and teachers are welcome to use our printable Atacama Desert facts sheet for homework help or as a fun classroom worksheet. Our list of interesting facts about the Atacama Desert provide a useful information guide to South America's driest desert. Did you know that the soil of the Atacama Desert has been compared to the soil found on planet Mars? Did you know that Atacama is the driest desert in the world? Did you know that the Atacama Desert receives hardly any rainfall at all? Did you know that the term 'desertification' can be defined as the process by which fertile land becomes desert? Did you know that the Atacama Desert is located in four countries of South America?

Interesting Atacama Desert Facts for Kids:- Our free list of Interesting Atacama Desert Biome Facts for Kids is easy to print and includes interesting facts about the Atacama Desert including how it was formed, why it is important, why it is classed as a biome, how big the Atacama Desert is, which South American countries it is located in, what the climate and environment is like, how hot and cold the temperatures of the Atacama Desert reach, what type of plants grow amongst the biome and how vegetation survives, what animals can adapt to its harsh weather conditions?

Interesting Atacama Desert Facts for Kids

Atacama Desert Fact File for Kids:- Location Facts: The Atacama Desert Biome is located in South America across four countries: Chile, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia *** Size: The Atacama Desert is approximately 128,000 square kilometers *** Annual Rainfall Facts: 15mms average rainfall per year in the Atacama Desert *** Average Annual Temperature: 0-25 degrees Celsius *** Climate: Cold and Dry ***

Interesting Facts for Kids 1:- Where is the Atacama Desert located?
The Atacama Desert is located in South America and covers 4 different countries namely Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru; the majority is located in Chile. The Atacama Desert extends a little to the border of Peru to southern parts of Chile up to 30o latitude, South. The northern part of the Atacama Desert is bordered by Peru, the southern part is bordered by Chilean Matorral, the eastern part is bordered by Central Andean dry puna ecoregion, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the west of the Atacama Desert.

Interesting Facts for Kids 2:- How big is the Atacama Desert?
The Atacama isn't one of the world's biggest deserts like the Sahara or Gobi as it only covers an area of approximately 128,000 square kilometers (49,000 square miles). It occurs throughout four countries in South America including Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Chile. When the Andes lower slopes, that is barren, are excluded, the Atacama Desert covers an area of 105,000 square kilometers (41,000 square miles)

Interesting Facts for Kids 3:- Atacama Desert soil facts
The soil in the Atacama Desert receives little rainfall making it one of the arid places on earth, therefore, the soil is generally nutritionally poor and infertile because the desert land has very low moisture. It is believed that the soil in the desert is similar to the soil on Planet Mars!

Interesting Facts for Kids 4:- What is the climate and temperature of the Atacama Desert?
The weather is generally extremely cold during the night whilst warmer in the day time. The average annual temperature is 0-25 degrees Celsius with the coldest months occurring between April and October, and the warmer months between November to March. The climate of the Atacama Desert can be described as cold with average temperatures ranging between 0-25 degrees Celsius. It has an average night time temperature of 4 degrees Celsius and average daytime temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. Precipitation is so low that compared to the Death Valley, the Atacama Desert is more than fifty times drier.

Interesting Facts for Kids 5:- Atacama Desert Rainfall Facts
The Atacama Desert is in actually fact one of the driest place on earth as it receives just 15 millimeters (0.6 inches) of rainfall in a year. Furthermore, the driest areas of Atacama Desert receive between 1 mm and 3mm or 0.4 inches and 0.12 inches of rainfall. This makes the Atacama Desert amongst the Earth’s driest places.

Interesting Facts for Kids 6:- What animals live in the Atacama Desert?
The Atacama Desert is home to many species of animals including insects and arachnids, reptiles and amphibians, mammals and birds. The insects and arachnids found in the Atacama Desert include red scorpions, butterflies, desert wasps, beetles and sand-colored insects. The reptiles and amphibians include the salt flat lizards, lava lizards, iguanas and the vallenar toads. There are many species of mammals living in the Atacama Desert including sea lions, fur seals, vicunas, guanacos, viscacha, gray fox and Darwin’s leaf eared mouse. Some of the birds found living in the Atacama Desert include chimango caracaras, burrowing owls, slender billed finch, Chilean woodstar, lomas, hummingbirds, sparrows, Andean flamingos and Humboldt penguins.

Interesting Facts for Kids 7:-  How do Atacama Desert animals survive?
Animals living in the Atacama Desert have to make many adaptations in order to survive its cold climate. There are parts of the desert that do not record any rainfall or precipitation at all throughout the year. No animal or plant can survive such conditions, however, the Atacama Desert is unique is many ways as it occurs on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Its location does in fact provide distinct advantages namely the moisture that is provided by ocean fog which is vital for the survival of animal species and seasonal plants, particularly those growing on little formations or hills known as Ioma. Most wildlife animals tend to live closer to areas where they can find food and water.

Interesting Facts for Kids 8:-  Atacama Desert animal adaptations
The wildlife in the Atacama Desert is able to adapt to its harsh climate, low rainfall and cold nighttime temperatures. For instance, the sea lions and fur seals gather along the Pacific Ocean coast most of the time. The Red Scorpion has adapted over the years to survive in the Atacama Desert as they are difficult to sport by predators based on their red color which conceals them in the desert. The scorpion's red exterior also hides them from view of their prey too which are majorly insects. Red Scorpions obtain water from precipitation on leaves and the little amount of rainfall received by the Atacama Desert biome allowing them to survive desert life over time.

Interesting Facts for Kids 9:-  Atacama Desert alien facts
In 2003, a skeleton was discovered in a deserted town in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The skeleton was named Ata, a short form of Atacama. Oscar Munoz, found Ata and sold the skeleton to a Spanish businessman called Ramon Navia-Osorio who is now the current owner. Ata is currently housed in his private collection. The skeleton is rumored to be the skeleton of an alien due to the fact that it had 10 ribs and a skull that is not normally shaped. The skeleton is believed to have lain undiscovered in the Atacama Desert for several years.

Interesting Facts for Kids 10:- Atacama Border Dispute facts
The Atacama Desert led to a big dispute over land border between Bolivia and Chile during the 19th Century which led to the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). The conflict was however resolved in favor of Chile. The dispute became known by the name 'Atacama Border Dispute' as the land that the countries were in conflict over was located within the Atacama Desert.

Interesting Facts for Kids 11:- Atacama Desert sodium nitrate facts
The Atacama Desert has the biggest sodium nitrate natural supply in the world and mining started there in the 1940s. The desert has a lot of mining towns that have since been abandoned. The Atacama Desert is rich in copper, cold, silver, iron and various other types of mineral deposits which occur naturally.

Interesting Facts for Kids 12:-  Atacama vegetation and landscape facts
The formation of the Atacama Desert consists mainly of an elongated desert strip which is located on the coast of Chile by the north-western side. The desert has a barren and extremely arid landscape. The coast of Chile is the main water supply for the desert but there are, however, few accumulations of water throughout Atacama. Apart from the barren areas of the desert, most other parts have only flower and herbs. The trees generally only grow close to sources of water and the forest area is generally sandy and attracts sand colored animals such as the sand colored grasshoppers. The Atacama Desert also has some old masses of Crystalline rocks and incorporates the Chilean Coast Range and the Andes Mountains on both sides.

Interesting Facts for Kids 13:- Atacama Desert food chain facts
The Atacama Desert food web is just like the typical food chain in most other areas. The desert's ecosystem consists mainly of insects and arachnids, reptiles and amphibians, mammals and birds. Apart from plants, the insects and arachnids are at the very bottom of the food web and provide food to the reptiles and amphibians, birds and some mammal species. The insects and arachnids mostly feed on plants. Next in the food web are the reptiles and amphibians, some of whom feed on plants and insects. The birds occur next, positioned in the upper part of the food chain structure. They feed on reptiles and amphibians as well as insects and arachnids. The mammals are at the topmost of the food chain, some of whom are omnivorous such as the gray fox which live on scorpions, seeds, rodents, lizards fruits and egg. Many animal species have to stay close to a steady water supply as they cannot survive for long without fresh water.

Interesting Facts for Kids 14:- Atacama Desert plants
Many species of plant life can be found growing in the Atacama Desert including trees, shrubs, cacti, herbs and grasses. Some of the most popular Atacama Desert plant names include leafy aigarrobo, pimiento tree, chinar, saltgrass, llareta and thyme amongst others, all of which are able to survive cold weather conditions and lack of precipitation. There are many plant species growing in the Atacama Desert numbering more than 5,000 different types.

Interesting Facts for Kids 15:-  Atacama Desert plant adaptation facts
The plants of the Atacama Desert have to make many adaptations to its cold climate and nutritionally poor soils in other to survive. In most of the parts of the Atacama Desert, the most common types of plants are flowers and herbs. These plants are particularly suited to this type of biome as they require very little water to survive. Trees only grow in parts with sufficient humidity, usually on the western side of Atacama where the Pacific Ocean lines the coast.

Interesting Facts for Kids 16:- Atacama Desert Llareta Plant facts
The llareta, or Yareta as it's also known, grows in Chile's mountainous areas of the Atacama Desert. This evergreen perennial is a slow growing, unusual looking flowering plant which can grow up to 13.1 feet thick. Due to low evening and nighttime temperatures, the llareta plant stores as much heat as possible during the daytime to help it survive extremely cold temperatures at night. Most of the Atacama Desert plants are adapted to living in particularly arid areas that receive very little water and has hot atmospheric air.

Interesting Facts for Kids 17:- Atacama Desert description and summary
The Atacama Desert is located in South America along the coast of Chile. It is amongst the most driest places on Earth as it receives little to no rainfall. Some areas of Atacama have not received any rainfall at all for more than 400 years! Despite its classification as a desert, Atacama is subject to cold climates as its average annual temperature ranges between 0-25 degrees Celsius. The area's lack of rainfall makes Atacama the driest desert in the world although sources of water can be found throughout lakes in the Andes Mountains which formed many years ago.

Interesting Atacama Desert Facts for Kids

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