Gobi Desert
The Gobi (/ˈɡoʊ.bi/; Mongolian: [Говь] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), Govi , "semidesert"; Chinese: 戈壁; pinyin: Gēbì ) is a desert in Mongolia and China. It is the largest desert in Asia, and the sixth largest in the world.
| Gobi Desert | |
|---|---|
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| Length | 1,500 km (930 mi) |
| Width | 800 km (500 mi) |
| Area | 1,295,000 km2 (500,000 sq mi) |
| Naming | |
| Native name | |
| Geography | |
| Countries | China and Mongolia |
| State | Ömnögovi and Sükhbaatar |
| Region | Inner Mongolia |
| Coordinates | |
The Gobi is a rain shadow desert, caused by the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas shielding it from rain.
The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southeast. The Gobi is made up of several pieces of geological and geographic regions.
This desert is home to many animals, such as the Bactrian Camel, Pit Viper, Mongolian wild ass, Gobi Bear and even Snow Leopards. There is also many types of wild sheep and goats around the desert. The most common vegetation is the gray sparrows saltwort, grey sagebrush and short grasses.
Climate
The Gobi is a high plateau with daily and seasonal extremes of temperature.
| Sivantse (1190 m) | Ulaanbaatar (1150 m) | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual mean | −2.5 °C (27.5 °F) | 2.8 °C (37.0 °F) |
| January mean | −26.5 °C (−15.7 °F) | −16.5 °C (2.3 °F) |
| July mean | 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) | 19.0 °C (66.2 °F) |
| Extremes | −43 to 38 °C (−45 to 100 °F) | −47 to 38.6 °C (−53 to 101 °F) |
Gobi Desert Media
Sand dunes in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Flaming Cliffs in Mongolia
Sacred ovoo in the Gobi Desert
The sand dunes of Khongoryn Els, Gurvansaikhan NP, Mongolia
Remnants of the Great Wall of China in the Gobi Desert
Camels walking in the Gobi Desert.
Bactrian camels in the Bayankhongor Province of Mongolia
Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia, China
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References
- Owen Lattimore. (1973) "Return to China's Northern Frontier." The Geographical Journal, Vol. 139, No. 2 (Jun., 1973), pp. 233–242.
Further reading
- Cable, Mildred and French, Francesca (1943) The Gobi Desert London. Landsborough Publications
- Man, John (1997) Gobi: Tracking the Desert Yale University Press, New Haven, ISBN 0-300-07609-6
- Stewart, Stanley (2001) In the Empire of Genghis Khan: A Journey among Nomads Harper Collins Publishers, London, ISBN 0-00-653027-3.
- Thay'er, Helen (2007) Walking the Gobi: 1,600 Mile-trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair Mountaineer Books, Seattle, WA, ISBN 978-1-59485-064-6
- Young husband, Francis (1904) The Heart of a Continent John Murray
Other websites
Media related to Gobi Desert at Wikimedia Commons
