Where Is the Atacama Desert?

The Atacama Desert occupies a roughly 1,600 km strip between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific coast, primarily in northern Chile with extensions into southern Peru. It is the driest non-polar desert on Earth: some weather stations in the interior have never recorded any rainfall, and certain areas have been essentially rainless for millions of years. The extreme aridity results from a combination of the cold Humboldt Current (which suppresses evaporation), the rain shadow of the Andes, and a persistent high-pressure system. Despite its barrenness, the Atacama is rich in mineral deposits, including the world largest natural supply of sodium nitrate and significant lithium reserves.