Gobi Desert

The cold desert where dinosaur eggs were found

The Gobi is a cold desert, not a hot one! −40 °C in winter, +45 °C in summer. In 1923 the world's first dinosaur eggs were found here — in a nest! Bactrian camels, snow leopards and the extremely rare Gobi bear live in the Gobi. Marco Polo crossed the Gobi to reach China — it took 30 days.

The Gobi (Mongolian for 'waterless place') covers 1.3 million km² — Asia's largest desert, in Mongolia and northern China, in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. Continental climate: an annual temperature range of 85 °C. Only 5% is sand — mostly stony plains. In 1923 Roy Chapman Andrews's expedition (Flaming Cliffs, Bayanzag) found the first dinosaur eggs (Oviraptor, Protoceratops); later came Velociraptor and the 'Fighting Dinosaurs' fossil. It expands into China by 3,600 km² a year — hence the 'Green Wall' project (66 billion trees). Wild Bactrian camels (fewer than 1,000), the Gobi bear (40 animals), kulan and gazelle. The northern branch of the Silk Road crossed it; Marco Polo traversed it in 1275.

Fun facts

• Gobi winters are −40 °C and summers +45 °C — an 85-degree swing in one year!
• The world's first dinosaur eggs were found in the Gobi — in 1923.
• The Gobi advances into China by 3,600 km² a year — China is planting 66 billion trees to stop it.