How do people live in the desert?

Answer 1

Deserts are not all barren wastelands. Many desert communities have been built up with all modern conveniences, because they are built around various mining operations or oil extraction. Parts of the Middle East, for example, are rich in oil, and they are able to fund large, technologically advanced settlements, no different from those where water is more easily accessible.

People who live in the Australian desert include miners, pastoralists and indigenous people living a semi-traditional lifestyle.

Millions of people live in cities and towns in deserts around the world. Cairo, Egypt, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Chihuahua, Mexico, are just a few examples. All are major cities in deserts and the people have nearly all the same amenities as found in non-desert areas.

Many of these people have learned to utilise limited water resources more efficiently than those in places where water is more plentiful. In addition, many continents have deep water basins underground, such as the Great Artesian Basin in Australia. Water is drawn up from these sources via windmills and pumps, and the source itself is continually being replenished by floodwaters thousands of kilometres away.

Answer 2

People can survive in deserts provided they can adapt, use camels, know where they can find water (oasis, spring, etc) are to be found. The Bedouin tribes in the Sahara, the Bush people of Africa, show that survival in a desert is possible.