Taklamakan Desert 295579 225595766 2008-07-14T13:55:56Z Sardanaphalus 427947 updating link using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] [[Image:Taklamakan_desert.jpg|thumb|right|300px|View of the Taklamakan desert]] [[Image:KunlunMountains.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Taklamakan Desert in the [[Tarim Basin]]]] The '''Taklamakan Desert''' (Takelamagan Shamo, 塔克拉玛干沙漠), also known as Taklimakan, is a [[desert]] in [[Central Asia]], in the [[Xinjiang]] [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] Autonomous Region of the [[People's Republic of China]]. It is bounded by [[Kunlun Mountains]] to the south, and [[Pamir Mountains]] and [[Tian Shan]] (ancient [[Mount Imeon]]) to the west and north. Taklamakan is known as one of the largest sandy deserts in the world<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110530/Takla-Makan-Desert |title=Taklamakan Desert |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |accessdate=2007-08-11 }} </ref>, ranking 15th in size in a ranking of the world's largest non-polar deserts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geology.com/records/largest-desert.shtml |title=The World's Largest Desert |publisher=geology.com |accessdate=2007-08-22 }} </ref> It covers an area of 270,000 [[square kilometre|km²]] of the [[Tarim Basin]], 1,000 km long and 400 km wide. It is crossed at its northern and at its southern edge by two branches of the [[Silk Road]] as travellers sought to avoid the arid wasteland.<ref name="atlas">{{cite book |first=Paul G. |last= Bahn |year=2001 |title=The Atlas of World Geology |edition= |publisher=Checkmark Books |location=New York |pages= pp 134&ndash; 135 |id= ISBN 0-8160-4051-6}}</ref> In recent years, the People's Republic of China has constructed a [[Tarim Desert Highway|cross-desert highway]] that links the cities of [[Hotan]] (on the southern edge) and [[Luntai]] (on the northern edge). [[Image:Alluvial fan, Taklimakan Desert, XinJiang Province, China, NASA, ASTER.jpg|thumb|right|A vast [[alluvial fan]] between the [[Kunlun]] and [[Altun]] mountain ranges forming the southern border of the Taklamakan Desert, the left side appearing blue from water flowing in many small streams]] ==Climate== Taklamakan is the paradigm of a [[cold desert]]. Given its relative proximity with the cold to frigid [[air mass]]es in [[Siberia]], extreme lows are recorded in wintertime, sometimes well below {{convert|-20|C|F|0}} . During the [[2008 Chinese winter storms]] episode the Taklamakan was reported to be for the first time covered in its entirety of a thin layer of snow reaching {{convert|4|cm|in}} in some observatories.<ref name = xinhuanetdesertsnow> {{cite news |title=China's biggest desert Taklamakan experiences record snow |publisher=Xinhuanet.com |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/01/content_7544946.htm |date=February 1, 2008 }}</ref> Its extreme inland position, virtually in the very heartland of Asia and thousands of kilometres from any open body of water, accounts for the cold character of its nights even during summertime. ==Oasis== There is no water on the desert and it is hazardous to cross. Takla Makan means "go in and you'll never come out" <ref>{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/geography/geography.html |title=The Silk Roads and Eurasian Geography |publisher= |accessdate=2007-08-07 }} </ref> Merchant caravans on the [[Silk Road]] would stop for relief at the thriving [[oasis]] towns.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1_41VGoCYU8C&pg=PA321&ots=6bGfMuoFKr&dq=Taklamakan+Desert&output=html&sig=b-bEdFh2_ZioH8JZ1_6QL74UC4A |title=Spies Along the Silk Road |publisher= |accessdate=2007-08-07 }} </ref> [[Image:Taklamakan-d12.jpg|thumb|Desert life near [[Yarkent County|Yarkand]]]] The key oasis towns, watered by rainfall from the mountains, were [[Kashgar]], [[Marin (China)|Marin]], [[Niya (Tarim Basin)|Niya]], [[Yarkent County|Yarkand]], and [[Hotan|Khotan]] (Hetian) to the south, [[Kuqa]] and [[Turfan]] in the north, and [[Loulan]] and [[Dunhuang]] in the east.<ref name="atlas"/> Now many, such as Marin and [[Gaochang]] are ruined cities in sparsely inhabited areas in the [[Xinjiang|Xinjiang Autonomous Region]] of the [[Peoples Republic of China]].<ref name="road">{{cite web |year= |month= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=miran+china&source=web&ots=egCocMOmcJ&sig=EOvmfCuso4710WGlfZLDhwRZSvA |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |publisher= |accessdate=2007-08-25 }}</ref> The archeological treasures found in its sand buried ruins point to [[Tocharians|Tocharian]], early [[Hellenistic]], [[India]]n and [[Buddhist]]ic influences.<ref name="atlas"> Its treasures and dangers have been vividly described by [[Aurel Stein]], [[Sven Hedin]], [[Albert von Le Coq]], and [[Paul Pelliot]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ess.uci.edu/%7Eoliver/silk.html |title=The Silk Road |publisher= |accessdate=2007-08-07 }} </ref> [[Tarim Mummies|Mummies]], some 4000 years old, have been found in the region. They show the wide range of peoples who have passed through. Some of the mummies appear European.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2502chinamum.html |title=Mysterious Mummies of China |publisher=pbs.org |accessdate=2007-08-11 }} </ref> Later, the Taklamakan was inhabited by [[Turkic peoples]]. Starting with the [[Tang Dynasty]], the [[China|Chinese]] periodically extended their control to the oasis cities of the Taklamakan in order to control the important [[silk]] route trade across Central Asia. Periods of Chinese rule were interspersed with rule by Turkic and [[Mongol]] and [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] peoples. The present population consists largely of Turkic, [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] people. == See also == *[[Tarim mummies]] *[[Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves]] *[[Kizil Caves]] *[[Emin Minaret]] *[[Yuezhi]] *[[List of deserts by area]] *[[Cities along the Silk Road]] *[[Mount Imeon]] ==Footnotes== <references/> == References == * Jarring, Gunnar (1997). ''The [[toponym]] Takla-makan'', Turkic Languages, Vol. 1, p. 227-240 * Hopkirk, Peter (1980). ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia''. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 0-87023-435-8. * Hopkirk, Peter (1994). ''[[The Great Game]]: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia''. ISBN 1-56836-022-3. * Desert Meteorology, Thomas T. Warner, 2004, Cambridge University Press, 612 pages ISBN 0521817986 == External links == * [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/geography/china/china.html Photos of area in China] * [http://www.china-profile.com/maps/map_overview_2.htm Satellite Images from China ] * [http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/50/Taklamakan_Desert.html Personal experiences] * [http://www.meshrep.com/PicOfDay/mummies/mummies.htm Photos of mummies] {{commons|Taklamakan}} {{Geography topics}} {{Physical geography topics}} {{Deserts}} {{coor title dms|38|53|28|N|82|10|40|E|region:CN_type:landmark}} [[Category:Deserts of China]] [[Category:Deserts and xeric shrublands]] [[Category:Palearctic]] [[Category:Xinjiang]] [[Category:Sites along the Silk Road]] [[Category:Ergs]] [[Category:Physiographic provinces]] [[zh-min-nan:Taklamakan Soa-bô͘]] [[bs:Takla Makan]] [[bg:Такламакан]] [[ca:Takla Makan]] [[cs:Taklamakan]] [[de:Taklamakan]] [[et:Taklimakan]] [[es:Taklamakán]] [[eo:Taklamakano]] [[eu:Taklamakan]] [[fr:Désert du Taklamakan]] [[ko:타클라마칸 사막]] [[hr:Takla Makan]] [[it:Deserto di Taklamakan]] [[lv:Taklamakans]] [[lt:Taklamakanas]] [[nl:Taklamakan]] [[ja:タクラマカン砂漠]] [[no:Taklamakan]] [[pl:Takla Makan]] [[pt:Taklamakan]] [[ro:Taklamakan]] [[qu:Taklamakan]] [[ru:Такла-Макан]] [[sr:Takla Makan]] [[fi:Taklimakan]] [[sv:Takla Makan]] [[tr:Taklamakan Çölü]] [[uk:Такла-Макан]] [[zh:塔克拉玛干沙漠]] [[el:Τάκλα Μακάν]]