Which of the following deserts is located in the Southern Hemisphere?

The correct answer is A) Kalahari. It lies in southern Africa, spread across Botswana, most of Namibia and parts of South Africa, between roughly 17° and 30° south of the Equator. It is a semi-arid sandy basin rather than a pure sand sea, which is why it supports grass, scrub, wildlife such as oryx and springbok, and San communities.

Why the others fail:

• Gobi (B) lies in Mongolia and northern China, in the Northern Hemisphere, in the rain shadow of the Tibetan and Himalayan uplift.
• Chihuahuan (C) is a hot desert of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, entirely north of the Equator.
• Sahara (D) covers most of North Africa, north of the Equator, and is the largest hot desert in the world.

Core concept: desert location is governed by the subtropical high-pressure belts, found around 15° to 30° latitude in both hemispheres, along with rain-shadow and continental effects. Kalahari is a textbook southern subtropical desert, and Australia's deserts follow the same logic. For Mains (GS-1 Geography), this links to climate-driven pastoral livelihoods and desertification at the Kalahari margins.

Trap: candidates pick Sahara because it is the most famous desert and forget to check latitude. Always check whether a desert lies north or south of the Equator before answering.