<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article contains special characters . Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols . </Td> </Tr> <P> The Gobi Desert (/ ˈɡoʊ. bi /; Mongolian: Говь, Gowĭ, (ɢɔwj), "semidesert"; Chinese: 戈壁; pinyin: Gēbì, Xiao'erjing: قْبِ, (kɤ́. pî), Dungan: Гәби) is a large desert region in Asia . It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia . The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Taklamakan Desert to the west, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southeast . The Gobi is notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road . </P> <P> The Gobi is a rain shadow desert, formed by the Tibetan Plateau blocking precipitation from the Indian Ocean reaching the Gobi territory . </P> <P> The Gobi measures over 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from southwest to northeast and 800 km (500 mi) from north to south . The desert is widest in the west, along the line joining the Lake Bosten and the Lop Nor (87 °--89 ° east). It occupies an arc of land 1,295,000 km (500,000 sq mi) in area as of 2007; it is the fifth - largest desert in the world and Asia's second largest . Much of the Gobi is not sandy but has exposed bare rock . </P>

What type of desert is the gobi desert