The Ryn Desert or Ryn-Peski Desert ( kk, Нарын құмы, ''Naryn-Qūmy''; russian: Рын-пески) is a desert in western

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and Astrakhan Oblast,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. High winds sweep across the desert, and in 2001 a dust storm in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

was determined as originating in the Ryn Desert. A study of long-range dust transportation to the Baltic Sea region—by analyzing dust pollution in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

, showed that aerosol concentrations there were influenced more by the Ryn Desert region than the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Geography

It is located north of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

and southeast of the

Volga Upland The Volga Upland, also known as the Volga Uplands, Volga Hills, or Volga Plateau, (Russian: Приволжская возвышенность - Privolzhskaya vozvyshennost) is a vast region of the East European Plain in the European part of Rus ...

. The borders of the desert are very loosely defined. Some maps show the desert almost entirely within the

Caspian Depression The Caspian Depression ( kk, Каспий маңы ойпаты, ''Kaspıı mańy oıpaty''; rus, Прикаспи́йская ни́зменность, p=prʲɪkɐˈspʲijskəjə ˈnʲizmʲɪnnəsʲtʲ, Caspian Lowland) or Pricaspian/Peri-Casp ...

, stretching almost to the coast of the Caspian Sea, while others show it north of the depression. It lies west of the

Ural River The Ural (russian: Урал, ), known before 1775 as Yaik (russian: Яик, ba, Яйыҡ, translit=Yayıq, ; kk, Жайық, translit=Jaiyq, ), is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia ...

between 46° N and 49° N latitude, and 48° E to 52° E longitude. Temperatures can reach extreme highs of during summer and in winter they can drop to a low of . Many small towns are scattered throughout the Ryn Desert, and population density is between 1 and 15 people per square mile.

Aralsor Aralsor ( kk, Аралсор; russian: Аралсор) is a Bittern (salt), bittern salt lake in Bokey Orda District, West Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan. The lake lies about to the east of the Russian border, north of the R-97 Highway (Kazakhs ...

lake lies at the northern edge. The desert lies in a semi-arid climate zone, and receives very little rainfall.

References

*International Journal of Environment and Pollution 2004 - Vol. 22, No.1/2 pp. 72 – 86. ISSN 0957-4352 *DK World Atlas, Millennium Edition, pgs. xxv, xxix, 258 http://www.historytoday.com/john-etty/russia%E2%80%99s-climate-and-geography Deserts of Central Asia Deserts of Kazakhstan Deserts of Russia {{AstrakhanOblast-geo-stub

Geography

See also

References