Interesting Facts About Thar Desert



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 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. 

 • The name “Thar” is derived from the word “thul” meaning sand ridges.

 • The land of the Thar desert is covered with sands made of Archean gneiss metamorphic rocks, Protozoic sedimentary rocks, and alluvium material. The Thar Desert is covered with shifting sand dunes. These are small hills formed by the wind blowing over the sand in the desert. These sands have been accumulated over 1.8 million years.

 • One million years ago, the river Sarasvati used to flow through this region to the Indian Ocean. It was a region with good vegetation and high rainfall. A half a million year ago, due to powerful tectonic movements, the river system got distorted, and the streams lost its flow and meandered. With climatic changes, rainfall started declining and chocked the river. Ultimately, the river dried forever.
As strong winds started lifting sand and build-up particles from alluvial sediments and deposited them in the region, the actual formation of the desert began. Aridity gradually led to the loss of humidity. Then the dunes stabilized, soil formed, and vegetation took now shape. The region thus slowly turned it into a desert.

 • The Thar desert is the seventeenth-largest desert and the ninth-largest subtropical desert in the world.

 • The Thar desert is the world’s most populated desert with a population density of 83 people per square kilometer. In contrast, the Sahara desert has the lowest population density, with one person per square kilometer.

 • Animal husbandry and agriculture are the mainstay of the economy centered around the desert. There are five major breeds of cattle of which Tharparkar breed yields the highest quantity of milk, and the Kanker breed is suitable both as a beast of burden and as a milk producer.
Sheep are bred for rough and medium-fine wool while camels are used both for transportation and plowing the land for agriculture. Kharif crops are the chief source of agricultural production with bajra being the main crop. The other crops include corn, jowar, groundnuts, sesame, etc.

 •  The Thar Deserth has become the biggest wool-producing area in India, with almost 40-50% of India’s total wool production coming from this region.

 • Water is a scarce resource in the Thar. Whenever it rains, water is collected in tanks and reservoirs and is used for drinking and other domestic purposes. The groundwater being saline cannot be utilized. However, sound acquirers have been detected in the central part of the desert.
For irrigation, canals are the primary source of water in the desert. The Indira Gandhi canal provides water for irrigation to the vast area of the Thar. The canal begins at the Harike Barrage, at the meeting point of the Sutlej and Beas rivers in Punjab, and continues in a southwestern direction for around 470 km.

 • Apart from coal-based thermal power, generation of electricity from wind power is also carried out in the Thar desert. With a vast expanse of arid land, it is considered to be an ideal place for the same.

 •  The Thar Desert attracts many tourists. Places like Jaipur and Udaipur are well known for their forts. Sariska, Ranthambore, and Keoladeo are some of the famous national parks in Rajasthan. The desert cities of Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Jaisalmer are a must-visit for tourists.
In February every year, a Desert Festival is conducted in the city of Jaisalmer. It showcases the rich heritage of Rajasthan and its culture. There are traditional song and dance performed by the local nomad groups. One can witness rare competitions like camel polo and cheer for camel races.

 • On 18 May 1974, India carried out its first nuclear explosion test in the Thar desert. In 1998, again it did two more explosions in a place called Pokhran located in Thar desert.

 • Droughts are quite frequent in the Thar desert, which impacts its flora and fauna adversely. A study conducted by Rao and Poonia (2012) has predicted that by the 21st-century end, the temperature of Bikaner will increase by +3.8 degree Centigrade, Jaisalmer by +3.6 degree Centigrade, Jodhpur by +2.8 degree Centigrade and Pali by +2.3 degree Centigrade, if the current rate of warming continues. As a result, demand for water will rise 0.1 to 0.5 mm/day for 1 degree Centigrade rise, 0.3 to 1.1 mm/day for 2 degree Centigrade, 0.4 to 1.6 mm/day for 3 degree Centigrade rise and 0.6 to 2.1 mm/day for a 4 degree Centigrade rise in temperature.