Tian Shan

The Tian Shan (Chinese: 天山; Pinyin: Tiān Shān; celestial mountains), also spelled Tien Shan, is a mountain range located in Central Asia, to the north and west of the Taklamakan Desert in the border region of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of western China. In the south it links up with the Pamir.

Related Topics:
Chinese - Pinyin - Mountain range - Central Asia - Taklamakan - Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - Xinjiang - Uighur - Autonomous Region - China - Pamir

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The Tian Shan are a part of the Himalayan orogenic belt which was formed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates in the Cenozoic.

Related Topics:
Plates - Cenozoic

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The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Pik Pobedy (Victory Peak) which, at 7,439 m or 24,408 ft, is also the highest point in Kyrgyzstan and is on the border of China. The Tian Shan's second highest peak, Khan Tengri (Lord of the Spirits), at 7,010 meters, straddles the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border.

Related Topics:
Pik Pobedy - Kyrgyzstan - Khan Tengri

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The Torugart Pass, 3,752 m or 12,310 ft high, is located at the border between Kyrgyzstan and China's Xinjiang province.

Related Topics:
Torugart Pass - Xinjiang

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The major rivers rising in the Tian Shan are the Syr Darya and the Tarim river.

Related Topics:
Syr Darya - Tarim

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Part of the Tian Shan are the forested Alatau ranges inhabited by pastoral tribes speaking Turkic languages.

Related Topics:
Alatau - Turkic

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