The Atacama desert, occupying a land of 105,000 square kilometres, lies in the Chilean region called Antofagasta which receives little annual rainfall measuring 0.04 inches. There are some weather stations in this area which have never recorded rain. It is also estimated by research studies that the area didn't receive any rainfall from 1570 to 1971.

The extent of dryness can be understood by the fact that the mountains in this region rise to a height of 22,589 feet, but all of them are free from snow and glaciers. Studies also show that a river used to flow from this area, but it dried up about 120,000 years ago.

The Atacama desert borders the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Andes mountains to its east. It is strange to note that the Atacama Desert lies very close to the Pacific Ocean while the Amazon rainforest lies on the other side of the Andes mountains, but still there has been extremely minimal rainfall and the area is dry all year long. This is because the Andes Mountains prevent all clouds and moisture from moving over to the Atacama. The area also has a harsh climate with temperatures ranging from 0 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius. The climate of this area is so parched that even bacteria cannot survive for long.

However, there is some amount of moisture present in scarce places of the desert which comes in the form of fog that covers the desert at night. It is also the reason for sparse amount of vegetation found in some of desert's areas. One of the most amazing and mysterious aspects of the Atacama desert is that the chemical composition of its lifeless and dry soil resembles the soil which space missions found on planet Mars, and scientists have termed the Atacama desert as the closest thing to Mars on Earth.

The Atacama desert has large deposits of copper and the largest deposits of sodium nitrate in the world. Archaeological expeditions have revealed signs of an ancient civilisation which once lived in this region. This was known when figures of humans, animals and some other objects were discovered, carved or buried on the desert hills. These figures are of different sizes; some are about three feet in length while some reach lengths of 377 feet. These mysterious lines are also known as the Atacama Lines or the Atacama geoglyphs.

There is not much vegetation or animal life found in the Atacama desert. In the coastal areas, birds such as pelicans and seagulls are found, while bird species of Chilean Woodstar, Coastal Miner, Thick-billed Miner and White-throated earthcreeper could also be found. Certain species of cactus and algae grow in the desert while the mammals found in the area include llamas huemul deer.