Gurbantünggüt Desert

The Gurbantünggüt Desert (Kazakh: Құрбантұңғыт шөлі قۇربانتۇڭعىت ءشولى; Uyghur: قۇربانتۈڭغۈت قۇملۇقى, Qurbantüngghüt Qumluqi; simplified Chinese: 古尔班通古特沙漠; traditional Chinese: 古爾班通古特沙漠; pinyin: Gǔ'ěrbāntōnggǔtè Shāmò) occupies a large part of the Dzungarian Basin in Northern Xinjiang, in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.

A remote rugged area, the Gurbantünggüt Desert is separated by the Tian Shan mountains from the Ili River Basin, Turfan Depression and Tarim Basin of southern Xinjiang.

A chain of cities, the largest of which is Ürümqi, are within a populated strip (the route of the Lanxin Railway) south of the desert, which is irrigated by glacier-fed streams flowing from the Tian Shan.

China National Highway 216 crosses the desert in north–south, from Altay City to Ürümqi.

China National Highway 217 and the Kuytun–Beitun Railway skirt it from the west and northwest.