The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

in northwest

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Xinjiang region Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

. Located inside the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

Southern Xinjiang Southern Xinjiang or Nanjiang () is the southern half of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Its historical name was Altishahr (), which also includes some territories in modern-day Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The name ...

, it is bounded by the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...

to the south, the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a Mountain range, range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun Mountains, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya ...

to the west, the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

range to the north, and the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...

to the east.

Etymology

While most researchers agree on being the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word for "place", etymology of ''Takla'' is less clear. The word may be a

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

borrowing of the Persian , "to leave alone/out/behind, relinquish, abandon" + ''makan''. Another plausible explanation suggests it is derived from

Turki Chagatai (, ), also known as Turki, Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (), is an extinct Turkic language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia. It remained the shared literary language in the region until the early 20th century. It was ...

''taqlar makan'', describing "the place of ruins". Chinese scholars

Wang Guowei Wang Guowei (; 2 December 18772 June 1927) or Wang Kuo-wei, courtesy name Jing'an () or Boyu (), was a Chinese historian and poet. A versatile scholar, he made important contributions to the studies of ancient history, epigraphy, philology, vern ...

and

Huang Wenbi Huang Wenbi (; April 23, 1893 – December 18, 1966) was a Chinese archaeologist specializing in Xinjiang. Huang was born in Hanchuan, Hubei Province. After graduating from Peking University in 1918, he became a faculty member of the university. ...

linked the name to the

Tocharians The Tocharians or Tokharians ( ; ) were speakers of the Tocharian languages, a group of Indo-European languages known from around 7,600 documents from the 6th and 7th centuries, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern-day Xinj ...

, a historical people of the Tarim Basin, making the meaning of "Taklamakan" similar to "Tocharistan". According to Uyghur researcher Turdi Mettursun Kara, the name Taklamakan comes from the expression Terk-i Mekan. The name is first mentioned as Terk-i Makan (ترك مكان / trk mkan) in the book called Tevarih-i Muskiyun, which was written in 1867 in the Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang. In

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

, it is said to mean "Place of No Return" or "get in and you'll never get out".

Geography

The Taklamakan Desert has an area of , making it slightly smaller than Germany. The desert is part of the

, which is long and wide. It is crossed at its northern and at its southern edge by two branches of the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

, by which travellers sought to avoid the arid wasteland. It is the world's second-largest shifting sand desert, with about 85% made up of shifting sand dunes, ranking 16th in size in a ranking of the world's largest deserts. Dunes range in height from up to as much as . The few breaks in this sea of sand are small patches of alluvial clay. Generally, the steeper sides of the dunes face away from the prevailing winds.

The People's Republic of China ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

has constructed two cross-desert highways. The

Tarim Desert Highway 200px, Vegetation on either side of the highway to prevent shifting sand dunes from covering it, as well as a blue pump house in the distance. 200px, PetroChina gas station on the highway route The Tarim Desert Highway (), also known as the Cross ...

links the cities of

Hotan Hotan (also known by other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an administrative area in its own right i ...

(on the southern edge) and

Luntai Luntai County, also known as Bugur County or Bügür County ( transliterated from Mongolian), is a county in central Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region under the administration of the Bayin'gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. It contains an area o ...

(on the northern edge) and the

Bayingol Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in the southeastern Xinjiang, China. It borders Gansu to the east, Qinghai to the southeast and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south. It is the largest prefecture-level div ...

to Ruoqiang road crosses the desert to the east. As a shifting sand desert, sand dunes constantly shift under the influence of the wind. As a result, moving sand dunes erode grasslands and residential areas. In 1978, the Chinese government launched the Green Great Wall project, aiming to create a forest chain extending from Xinjiang to

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

in northern China, to prevent

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

. It is one of the largest afforestation projects in the world. In 2024, the 3,046-kilometer green barrier around the Taklamakan Desert was completed, creating a full encirclement of the desert with vegetation. The Golmud-Korla Railway crosses the Taklamakan as well. Named areas in the desert include Ha-la-ma, A-lang-ha and Mai-k'o-tsa-k'o. The Mazartag mountains are located in the western part of the desert.

Climate

Because it lies in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

of the Himalayas, Taklamakan has a cold

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

. Given its relative proximity with the cold to frigid

air mass In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to ...

es in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, extreme temperatures are recorded in wintertime, sometimes well below , while in summer they can rise up to . During the

2008 Chinese winter storms The 2008 Chinese winter storms () were a series of winter storm events that affected large portions of southern and central China, where it does not usually snow severely or extensively, starting from 25 January 2008, until 6 February 2008. The ...

episode, the Taklamakan was reported to be covered, for the first time in its recorded history, entirely with a thin layer of snow reaching , with a temperature of in some observatories. Its extreme inland position, virtually in the very heartland of Asia and thousands of kilometres from any open body of water, accounts for the somewhat wide

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...

Spring dust storms

Spring, when wind patterns shift and the especially dry land with minimal vegetation warms rapidly, is peak dust storm season, especially in the southern part of the desert. The Sun heats near-surface dust, fueling pockets of

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

. Satellite observations by the Japanese Himawari-9 show the dust creeping upward in mountain valleys throughout the day. Data from

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

MODIS The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 19 ...

instruments show 1.5% decrease in the amount of atmospheric dust in the area each year since the early 2000s.

Oasis

The Taklamakan Desert has very little water, making it hazardous to cross. Merchant caravans on the

would stop for relief at the thriving

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Amu Darya The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...

basin, to the southwest the Afghanistan mountain passes lead to Iran and India, to the east is China, and even to the north ancient towns such as

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

can be found. The key oasis towns, watered by rainfall from the mountains, were

Kashgar Kashgar () or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang, China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years, Kashgar ...

, Miran, Niya,

Yarkand Yarkant County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also SASM/GNC ro ...

, and

Khotan Hotan (also known by #Etymology, other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an ...

(Hetian) to the south, Kuqa and

Turpan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the ...

in the north, and

Loulan Loulan ( zh, t=, p=Lóulán <

Eastern Han Chinese

''lo-lɑn'' <

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

in the east. Now, many, such as Miran and

Gaochang Gaochang (; Old Uyghur: ''Qocho''), also called Khocho, Karakhoja, Qara-hoja, Kara-Khoja or Karahoja (قاراغوجا in Uyghur), was an ancient oasis city on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in present-day Sanbu Town ...

, are ruined cities in sparsely inhabited areas in the

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

Autonomous Region of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The archaeological treasures found in its sand-buried ruins point to Tocharian, early

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, Indian, and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

influences. Its treasures and dangers have been vividly described by

Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...

Sven Hedin Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...

Albert von Le Coq Albert von Le Coq (; 8 September 1860 in Berlin, Prussia – 21 April 1930 in Berlin, Weimar Republic) was a Prussian/German brewery owner and wine merchant, who at the age of 40 began to study archaeology.''Schatzjagd an der Seidenstraße.'' A fi ...

, and

Paul Pelliot Paul Eugène Pelliot (28 May 187826 October 1945) was a French sinologist and Orientalist best known for his explorations of Central Asia and the Silk Road regions, and for his acquisition of many important Tibetan Empire-era manuscripts and ...

Mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

, some 4000 years old, have been found in the region. Later, the Taklamakan was inhabited by

Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

. Starting with the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

, the Chinese sporadically extended their control to the oasis cities of the Taklamakan Desert to control the important

silk route The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

trade across Central Asia. Periods of Chinese rule were interspersed with rule by Turkic,

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

and Tibetan peoples. The present population consists largely of Turkic

Uyghur people The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the titular nationali ...

and ethnic

Han people The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 17.5% of the worl ...

Scientific exploration

This desert was explored by several scholars, including

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

, a 7th-century Buddhist monk, and, in the 20th century, the archaeologist

. Atmospheric studies have shown that dust originating from the Taklamakan is blown over the Pacific, where it contributes to cloud formation over the Western United States. Further, the traveling dust redistributes minerals from the Taklamakan to the western U.S. via rainfall. Studies have shown that a specific class of mineral found in the dust, known as

K-feldspar Orthoclase, or orthoclase feldspar (endmember formula K Al Si3 O8), is an important tectosilicate mineral which forms igneous rock. The name is from the Ancient Greek for "straight fracture", because its two cleavage planes are at right angles t ...

, triggers ice formation particularly well. K-feldspar is particularly susceptible to corrosion by acidic atmospheric pollution, such as nitrates and phosphates; exposure to these constituents reduces the ability of the dust to trigger water droplet formation. In May 2023, China announced that it would drill a hole to around depth to investigate the layers of crust in that area. It will not be as deep as the

Kola Superdeep Borehole The Kola Superdeep Borehole SG-3 () is the deepest human-made hole on Earth (since 1979), which attained maximum true vertical depth of in 1989. It is the result of a scientific drilling effort to penetrate as deeply as possible into the ...

(.China begins drilling a 10-kilometer-deep hole in Earth's crust

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

, 2023-05-31

Transportation

The Taklamakan Desert is surrounded by the Taklimakan Desert railway loop. The Southern Xinjiang Railway branches from the Lanxin Railway near Turpan, follows the north side of the basin to Kashgar, and curves southeast to Khotan, while Hotan–Ruoqiang railway loops around the south and west side of the Traim. In total, the Taklimakan Desert railway loop contains four different railway lines, including the sections of the Golmud–Korla railway, Hotan–Ruoqiang railway, Kashgar–Hotan railway, and Southern Xinjiang railway. Roads and highways are also available in the desert.

In popular culture

The desert is the main setting for Chinese film series '' Painted Skin'' and '' Painted Skin: The Resurrection''. The Chinese TV series '' Candle in the Tomb'' is mostly spent in this desert as they are searching for the ancient city of Jinjue (see

Niya (Tarim Basin) The Niya ruins (), is an archaeological site located about north of modern Niya Town on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in modern-day Xinjiang, China. The ancient site was known in its native language as Caḍ́ota, and in Chinese during t ...

). The issue No. 39 'Soft Places' of Neil Gaiman's '' The Sandman'' takes place in the desert, when

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

gets lost in the desert. A portion of the Korean quasi-historical TV drama series ''

Queen Seondeok Queen Seondeok ( ; ? – ; day of the lunar month of the year of Inpyeong []) reigned as Queen Regnant of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, from 632 to 647. She was Silla's List of monarchs of Korea, twenty-seventh ruler, and its ...

'' takes place in the Taklamakan Desert. Sohwa escapes from Silla with baby Deokman and raises her in the desert. As a teenager, Deokman returns to Silla and uses the knowledge and experience gained from life among international traders in the Taklamakan trading centers to gain the throne of Silla. The desert is showcased in the Japanese animation ''

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is a Japanese anime television series, the eleventh installment in Sunrise studio's long-running ''Gundam'' franchise comprising two seasons. The series is set on a futuristic Earth and is centered on the exploits of the fictional paramilit ...

'', set in the year 2307. On the series, the Taklamakan Desert is the setting of a large-scale military joint operation performed by all the world's blocks of power, and interdicted by the paramilitary organization Celestial Being.

References

Citations

Sources

* Kara, Turdi Mettursun (March 1, 2022)
""Taklamakan" Adının Kökeni Üzerine"
''Korkut Ata Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi'' (7): 572–577
doi:10.51531/korkutataturkiyat.1070366
ISSN 2687-5675. S2CID 248487312. * Jarring, Gunnar (1997). "The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

Takla-makan", ''Turkic Languages'', Vol. 1, pp. 227–240. *

Hopkirk, Peter Peter Stuart Hopkirk (15 December 1930 – 22 August 2014) was a British journalist, author and historian who wrote six books about the British Empire, Russia and Central Asia. Biography Peter Hopkirk was born in Nottingham, the son of Frank St ...

(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 The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...

. . * Hopkirk, Peter (1994). '' The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia''. . * Tamm, Eric Enno (2010). ''The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds''. Vancouver/Toronto/Berkeley: Douglas & McIntyre. (cloth); (ebook). * Warner, Thomas T. (2004). ''Desert Meteorology''. Cambridge University Press, 612 pages. . *

Videography

* ''Treasure seekers : China's frozen desert'', National Geographic Society (2001)

External links

Photos of area in China
{{Authority control Deserts of China Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of China Ergs Geography of Xinjiang Sites along the Silk Road Physiographic provinces Ecoregions of Asia Palearctic ecoregions World Heritage Tentative List for China