The '''Chihuahuan Desert''' ({{lang-es|Desierto de Chihuahua}}, {{lang|es|Desierto Chihuahuense}}) is a [[desert]] and [[ecoregion]] designation covering parts of [[northern Mexico]] and the [[southwestern United States]]. It occupies much of far [[West Texas]], the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in [[New Mexico]], and a portion of southeastern [[Arizona]], as well as the central and northern portions of the [[Mexican Plateau]]. It is bordered on the west by the [[Sonoran Desert]], the [[Colorado Plateau]], and the extensive [[Sierra Madre Occidental]] range, along with northwestern lowlands of the [[Sierra Madre Oriental]] range. Its largest, continual expanse is located in Mexico, covering a large portion of the state of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], along with portions of [[Coahuila]], north-eastern [[Durango]], the extreme northern part of [[Zacatecas]], and small western portions of [[Nuevo León]]. With an area of about {{convert|501,896|km2|0|abbr=on}},<ref name = dinerstein/> it is the [[List of North American deserts|largest desert in North America]].<ref name=nyt>{{cite book |editor-first=John W. |editor-last=Wright | year=2006 | title=The New York Times Almanac |url=https://archive.org/details/newyorktimes200600wrig |url-access=registration | edition=2007 | publisher=Penguin Books | location=New York, New York | isbn=0-14-303820-6 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/newyorktimes200600wrig/page/456 456]}}</ref>
The desert is fairly young, existing for only 8000 years.<ref name= NMSU />