The Thar Desert is also known as the Great Indian Desert. The name ‘Thar’ is taken from a regional term Thal, which means dry. Some parts of this desert are located in the state of Rajasthan, north-western India and some in Punjab and Sind region of eastern Pakistan. This desert spreads over 200,000 km2 area. From the west, the Thar is irrigated by the Indus River plain, and in the southeast it is surrounded by the Aravalli Range. The wetland ‘Rann of Kutch’ is located on the south of the Thar. The monsoon winds which are the source of rain for the Indian subcontinent, generally bypass the Thar region and hence the annual rainfall remains less than 10 cm in west and 50 cm in east.
The Rann of Kutch located in Gujarat, India, is a white desert plain mainly composed of salt. It is the largest seasonal wetland where water gathered in the monsoon evaporates and leaves behind a white desert plain during the winter season.
