Tian Shan

The Tian Shan (Chinese: 天山; pinyin: Tiānshān; Wade–Giles: T'ien¹ Shan¹, Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, Tenğri tağ, Mongolian: Тэнгэр уул(Tenger uul)), is a large system of mountain ranges located in Central Asia. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Jengish Chokusu, 7,439 metres (24,406 ft).

The Chinese name for Tian Shan may be derived from the Xiongnu language name Qilian (Tsilien; Chinese: 祁连), which was described by Sima Qian in the Records of the Grand Historian as the homeland of the pre-Xiongnu peoples of the region, the Yuezhi, and has been said to refer to the Tian Shan rather than to the range 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) further east now known by this name. The Tannu-Ola mountains in Tuva (Tuvan: Таңды-Уула) bear the same name ("heaven/celestial mountains" or "god/spirit mountains").

Geography

Tian Shan lies to the north and west of the Taklamakan Desert and directly north of the Tarim Basin in the border region of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and northwest China. In the south it links up with the Pamir Mountains and to north and east it meets the Altai Mountains of Mongolia.