The Mojave Desert is a xeric desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is the smallest and driest desert of the four American deserts. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada, with small portions extending into Arizona and Utah.
Along with the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin deserts, a larger North American Desert is formed. The Mojave Desert is bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the California montane chaparral and woodlands, and to the south and east by the Sonoran Desert, although the boundaries to the east of the Mojave Desert are less distinctive than the other boundaries as there is no distinctive presence of an indicator species, such as the Joshua tree, which is endemic to the Mojave Desert.