Mud Houses , THAR DESERT , JODHPUR Stock Photo

The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is a large arid region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km2 77,000 sq mi and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world`s 17th largest desert, and the world`s 9th largest subtropical desert.About 85% of the Thar Desert is located within India, with the remaining 15% in Pakistan.[1] In India, it covers about 170,000 km2 66,000 sq mi, and the remaining 30,000 km2 12,000 sq mi of the desert is within Pakistan. The Thar desert forms approximately 5%~4.56% of the total geographic area of India. More than 60% of the desert lies in the state of Rajasthan, and extends into Sindh, Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana.[2] The desert comprises a very dry part, the Marusthali region in the west, and a semidesert region in the east with fewer sand dunes and slightly more precipitation.