The Chihuahuan Desert

The Chihuahuan Desert
pronounced: (chi-WAH-whan)

The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest desert in North America. This hot desert covers 175,000 square miles (455,000 square kilometers) in Mexico and the United States (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas).

Most of the Chihuahuan Desert is a plateau (a level area of land that raises above the land around it). There are areas of large sand dunes like the gypsum dunes in New Mexico. There are also rocky, mountain areas. In fact, because of the plateau and other mountain areas, most of the Chihuahuan Desert is above 3,500 feet in elevation!

Prehistoric hunters and gatherers once lived in many areas of this desert. Later, Native American peoples and Spaniards lived and made their living on this land. As settlers moved westward, many soldiers and homesteaders made their way through this desert area.

Today, the Chihuahuan Desert is used by many people. It is home to cities like El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico. It also includes parts of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, and Zacatecas in Mexico. The people in these areas use the land of the deserts for homes, farming, and mining.