Great Victoria Desert

Great Victoria Desert, arid region, southern Australia, in the states of South Australia and Western Australia. A barren area of sandhills, salt lakes, and sparse grasslands, it extends for about 725 km (about 450 mi) from east to west and is separated from the Great Australian Bight to the south by the Nullarbor Plain. Several groups of Aboriginal Australians live in the desert. The Kogara and the Mirning are the largest of these aboriginal groups. In 1875 British explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross the desert. He named it for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.