The desert covers a large area, about in the states of Western Australia and South Australia. The distance from east to west is about . It is very dry, getting only between to of rain each year. It is surrounded by other very dry areas including the Nullabor Plain to the south, the Gibson Desert to the north, Sturt's Stony Desert to the east. It was named by the explorer Ernest Giles in 1875, after Queen Victoria. Aboriginal people have lived in the desert for more than 24,000 years.