West and East Siberia. Inner Asia

Inner (Central) Asia occupies the centre of Asia and includes the mountains and deserts of China and Mongolia. Its middle and south are crossed by the active Alpine–Himalayan seismic belt, so old, rejuvenated and very young mountains lie side by side. The relief is mountains, plateaus, basins between mountains and high plains: the Tibetan Plateau, Karakoram, Eastern Tien Shan, Mongolian Altai, Kunlun, the Taklamakan basin and the Gobi Desert. The highest point is Chogori (K2) in the Karakoram (8 611 m) and the lowest is the Turpan Depression (about –154 m). The climate is temperate and dry subtropical, influenced in winter by the Asian high-pressure area and by Pacific monsoon air. Annual rainfall is under 100 mm in central Tibet, the Taklamakan and the Gobi, and over 1 000 mm on the eastern slopes of the south-eastern mountains. January mean temperature is –24 °C in the north, –8 °C in the Taklamakan and –20 °C in Tibet; in July about +16, +24 and +10 °C respectively. There are no big rivers; rivers such as the Tarim lie in an inland basin and many dry up in late summer. Kuku-Nur and Ubsu-Nur are salt lakes; Lop Nur has almost dried up. Zones are forest-steppe on mountain foothills, semi-desert and desert; above 6 000 m there is snow and glaciers.