InformationThe Gobi has several alternative Chinese names, including sha-mo (sand desert) and han-hal (dry sea). In its broadest definition, the Gobi includes the long stretch of desert and semidesert country extending from the foot of the Pamirs, 77° east, to the Great Khingan (Da Hinggan) Mountains, 116°-118° east, on the border of Manchuria; and from the foothills of the Altai, Sayan, and Yablonoi Mountains on the north to the Kunlun Shan, Altun Shan, and Qilian Shan ranges, which form the northern edges of the Tibetan Plateau, on the south (42.5900° N, 103.4300° E)
The Gobi is a rain shadow desert formed by the Himalaya range, which prevents rain-carrying clouds from reaching the Gobi. It is roughly crescent-shaped, lying between the Altai and Hangayn mountain ranges in the north and the Pei Mountains in the south. The eastern side of the desert is fringed by the Sinkiang region, a large basin that extends towards the Plateau of Tibet. Towards the west of the Gobi lies the Greater Khingan Range.
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