Abstract: The paper analyses the desertification phenomena in Oltenia, which have been more intense after 1990. Significant references are also made to the overall aspect for the entire country. The droughty periods have different meteorological characteristics compared to the last century such as: their association with intense heat waves, intensity and important areas of extension. These were caused by stable and persistent anticyclonic regimes which affected most part of the European continent. The paper is a part of series of extended studies on climate variability in Oltenia (Bogdan and Niculescu, 1999, Bogdan and Marinică, 2007, Marinică and Marinică, 2010; Marinică, 2006, 2009). The paper is useful to students, master graduates and to all specialists in climatology.