Major Deserts of the World

Kalahari Desert

The Kalahari Desert is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern Kgalagadi Africa extending 900,000 km² (562,500 sq. mi.), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari Desert is in Africa at the southern part and the desert is a portion of desert and a plateau. The Kalahari supports some animals and plants because most of it is not true desert. There is small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. It usually receives 5-10 inches of rainfall per year. The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2.5 million km² extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds called omuramba traverse the Central Northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for wild animals from elephant to giraffe, and for predators such as lion and cheetah, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopard or cheetah can still be found.

Climate
Derived from the Tswana word Keir, meaning the great thirst, or the tribal word Khalagari, Kgalagadi or Kalagare (meaning "a waterless place"), the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red-brown sands without any permanent surface water. Drainage is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans, and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia. However, the Kalahari is not a true desert. Parts of the Kalahari receive over 250 mm of erratic rainfall annually and are quite well vegetated; it is only truly arid in the south-west (under 175 mm of rain annually) making the Kalahari a fossil desert. Summer temperatures in the Kalahari range from 20 to 40 °C. In winter, the Kalahari has a dry, cold climate with frosts at night. The low winter temperature can average below 0 °C. The kalahari desert is a harsh place and has of 2 seasons, a dry season and a rainy season.

Kalahari minerals
There are large coal, copper, nickel and uranium deposits in the region. One of the largest diamond mines in the world is located at Orapa in the Makgadikgadi, North-Eastern Kalahari. Pomfret, on the edge of the desert, has asbestos in the subsoil and a shuttered asbestos mine
The overseas campaign group Survival International say the real reason for the re-settlement is to free up the land for diamond mining, especially in the area of Orapa, the diamond capital of the country. But the Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Ditshwanelo, disputes this, claiming that the government is being altruistic, but misguided. Nonetheless, the London Daily Telegraph of October 29, 2005 reported that the government had begun another wave of forced removals