The Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0801) covers the foothills on the western edge of the Tien Shan and Alay Mountains of Central Asia.

This territory is mostly in southeastern Uzbekistan, with a portion running north into Kazakhstan on the east side of the Syr Darya River, and a small portion in Turkmenistan.

The large (4,000 km2) Aydar Lake sits in a saline depression in the middle of the region.

The driest month between April and September does not have more than 30 millimetres of precipitation.

[1] The lower altitude hills display low herbaceous cover known as savannoids, with Bulbous meadow-grass (Poa bulbosa), sedges (Carex pachystilis), and Artemisia.