The desert is located in the country of Chile. I am not sure of the scientific reason for the low rainfall.

I believe there is no rain because of the Andes mountains. The mountains are so high that they block the ranclouds from entering the desert.

I believe that is called the "rain shadow" effect. Air being forced up the mountain reaches it's dew point and the moisture is stripped out on the windward side (orographic precipitation) of the mountain range the lee ward side then only receives the dry air.

A desert is defined by the amount of rainfall (actually any moisture source, some deserts have a morning fog). I don,t know why there is no rainfall, but if that is the case, there probably is no life there, somewhat like all of Mars.

It is located in Chile. The Atacama Desert is the driest desert on Earth except perhaps for the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica and is virtually sterile because it is blocked from moisture on both sides by the Andes mountains and by coastal mountains. The average rainfall in Antofagasta — a region in Chile which is part of the Atacama — is just 3mm per year, and there was a period of time where no rain fell there for 40 years. The Atacama is 15 million years old and 50 times more arid than California's Death Valley. It is so arid, in fact, that mountains that reach as high as 6885 metres or 22590 feet are completely free of glaciers and in the southern part from 25 degrees S to 27 S have possibly been throughout the Quaternary, though permafrost extends down to 4400 metres and is continuous above 5600 metres. The driest part of the Atacama is an area called the “double rain shadow” Earth, also known as the Earth, Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third closest planet to the Sun. ... Categories: Antarctica geography stubs, Geography of Antarctica, Ross Dependency Valleys ... Antofagasta is Chiles second administrative region from north to south. ... For a detailed examination of the geology and other features of the valley, see Death Valley National Park. ... This article is about the geographical formation. ... This article is about frozen ground. ... A rain shadow or more accurately, precipitation shadow is a dry region on the surface of the Earth that is leeward or behind a mountain with respect to the prevailing wind direction. A very unique place. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Atacama

The Atacama desert, where the Tropic of Capricorn cuts the west coast of South America, is as dry as it is (vying with the Namibian desert on the west coast of southern Africa as the driest on Earth) because of three factors: 1) it lies on the northern fringe of the Subtropical High (pressure) of the southern hemisphere, 2) the cold Humboldt Current lies immediately offshore, and 3) the high Andes lie immediately to the east. Under the subtropical high, descending air (the return flow from upward convection of the Equatorial low and tropical rain forests) is compressionally warmed without addition of moisture - it is thus extremely dry. The relatively cool water offshore cools the overlying air, making it dense, thus stable, with few thunderstorms. [The dew and fog mentioned in a previous answer results from this basal cooling.] And finally, what regional wind flow there is is from the east, thus the rain shadow effect also mentioned previously does have an effect, reducing the flow of moisture from the Amazon to the east and north.

it is located in clilli south america