<Tr> <Th> Area </Th> <Td> 105,000 km (40,541 sq mi) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Biome </Th> <Td> Desert </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Map of the Atacama Desert: The area most commonly defined as Atacama is yellow . In orange are the outlying arid areas of the southern Chala, Altiplano, Puna de Atacama, and Norte Chico . </Td> </Tr> <P> The Atacama Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Atacama) is a plateau in South America (primarily in Chile), covering a 1000 - km (600 - mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains . It is the driest desert in the world, as well as the only true desert to receive less precipitation than the polar deserts . According to estimates, the Atacama Desert occupies 105,000 km (41,000 sq mi), or 128,000 km (49,000 sq mi) if the barren lower slopes of the Andes are included . Most of the desert is composed of stony terrain, salt lakes (salares), sand, and felsic lava that flows towards the Andes . </P>

Where did the atacama desert get its name from