• North Africa's Sahara is the largest desert in the world.sahara 2 image by Christian Schoettler from Fotolia.com
  
  Deserts make up about 35 percent of the earth's surface. Although deserts are often thought of as hot, completely flat and made up of seemingly endless stretches of sand, some deserts include or are bounded by mountain ranges. Mountainous deserts exist on most continents, including North America, Asia, and Africa.
  
  

Gobi Desert

• The varied geography of the Gobi Desert includes vast sand dunes.dune dans le desert de gobi image by Cl??ment Billet from Fotolia.com
  
  China's Gobi Desert is the world's fifth largest, extending into Mongolia to the north. It's a cold desert with a bare, stone floor. The Gobi consists of five ecological regions: the Alashan Plateau and the Dzungarian Basin (semi-desert areas), the Gobi Lakes Valley, the Eastern Gobi steppe, and the Tian Shan range. The Yin Mountains rise in the eastern Gobi, while north of the Gobi's Alashan Plateau (found southwest of the Eastern Gobi) are the Gobi Altai range, the Helan Mountains and the Qilian Mountains.
  
  

Sahara Desert

• The Sahara is found in North Africa and is the world's largest desert, spanning 13 countries. Myriad geographic forms and wildlife are found throughout the Sahara, including the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The Atlas Mountains are a popular trekking place for tourists. The Ahaggar Mountains and the Tibesti Mountains are located in the middle of the Sahara and stretch over parts of Libya, Niger, Algeria, and Chad.
  
  

Mojave Desert

• The vast Mojave is one of the world's most mountainous deserts.Mojave Desert 5996 image by St Clair Photography from Fotolia.com
  
  Bordering the Sonoran Desert to the north and extending across California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, the Mojave Desert is arguably the world's most mountainous desert, with several mountain ranges. The San Gabriel and San Bernardino ranges, along with the New York Mountains, Providence Mountains and Granite Mountains make up much of the Mojave's terrain.
  
  

Sonoran Desert

• Unique for its seasons that change normally with the rest of North America, the Sonoran Desert stretches from California to Arizona and into the state of Sonora in Mexico. The Sonoran Desert is dotted with mountain ranges throughout, including the Kofa Mountains about 60 miles northeast of Yuma, Arizona, the Cabeza Prieta and Agua Caliente mountains in southwest Arizona, the Cargo Muchacho Mountains and Turtle Mountains in southeastern California and the Tinajas Altas, Tule Mountains and the Sierra de la Lechuguilla on the Arizona-Mexico border.
  
  

Other Deserts

• The Thar Desert in India is bounded on the west by the Aravalli Mountains. North America's Great Basin Desert features the Forested Mountain region and the Chihuahuan Desert, which lies on the border between the United States and Mexico, is close to the Sierra Madre Occidental range. The Karas and Huns mountain ranges rise in southern Namibia in the Kalahari Desert, which stretches across parts of Namibia, South Africa and Botswana.