Gurbantünggüt Desert

The Gurbantünggüt Desert (Kazakh: Құрбантұңғыт шөлі قۇربانتۇڭعىت ءشولى; Uyghur: قۇربانتۈڭغۈت قۇملۇقى; Qurbantüngghüt Qumluqi; pinyin: Gǔ'ěrbāntōnggǔtè Shāmò) occupies a large part of the Dzungarian Basin in Northern Xinjiang, in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is also called by some sources Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, from the Mongolian language (means "rich desert"). It is about 50,000 square kilometers (19; 000 mi2) and around 300 to 600 meters above sea level. It is Xinjiang's second largest desert, after the Taklamakan Desert, which is in the Tarim Basin. A remote rugged area, the Gurbantünggüt Desert is separated by the Tian Shan mountains from the Ili River Basin, Turfan Depression and Tarim Basin of southern Xinjiang. A chain of cities, the largest of which is Ürümqi, are within a populated strip (the route of the Lanxin Railway) south of the desert, which is irrigated by glacier-fed streams flowing from the Tian Shan. The Irtysh–Karamay Canal, constructed during the first decade of the 21st century, skirts the desert's northwestern edge; the Irtysh–Ürümqi Canal crosses the desert's central part. Several salt lakes are in the western part of the Gurbantünggüt Desert. This includes the Manas Lake (45°48′00″N 85°56′00″E), which was in the past fed by the Manas River, but now has mostly dried out, and the Ailik Lake (45°56′00″N 85°47′00″E), which receives water from the Baiyang River (which i

Location: People's Republic of China.

Desert data from Wikidata (CC0).