South America - Barren Lands

South America is home to the driest hot desert on earth, the Atacama Desert. Minimal rain is received throughout much of the desert and certain climate recording stations have yet to measure any rain at all. The area most people think of as the Atacama is actually comprised of two deserts, the Atacama in the south primarily located in Chile and the Sechura in the north extending up along the coast of Peru. Both desert areas are constrained by the Andes Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.