Where Is The Gobi Desert?

The Gobi Desert is one of the major deserts on Earth in terms of surface area; the desert lies in northern and north western China and the southern parts of Mongolia. The Gobi which means a large dry region in the Mongolian tongue occupies a significant part of Central Asia (about 1,300,000 sq km) and is the largest desert in Asia.

The desert is bounded to the south by the upper part of the Chinese plains while to its north lie the Mongolian steppe lands and the Altay Mountain range; to the south west of the Gobi lies the Tibetan Plateau.

The ancient Silk Route passed through the Gobi Desert and the desert was part of the Mongolian empire of Genghis Khan; in recent times the discovery of a large number of dinosaur fossils and deposits of copper and gold especially in the Mongolian part of the desert has renewed interest in the region.