*** Welcome to piglix ***

Kunlun Mountains

Kunlun Mountains
崑崙山
Cordillère du Kunlun.jpg
View of Western Kunlun Shan from the Tibet-Xinjiang highway
Highest point
Peak Kongur Tagh
Elevation 7,649 m (25,095 ft)
Naming
Native name Kūnlún Shān
Geography
Country China
State/Province Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang
Range coordinates 36°N 84°E / 36°N 84°E / 36; 84Coordinates: 36°N 84°E / 36°N 84°E / 36; 84
Borders on Gobi Desert
Kunlun Mountains
Kunlun (Chinese characters).svg
"Kunlun" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese 昆仑山
Traditional Chinese 崑崙山
Postal Kwenlun Mountains

The Kunlun Mountains (simplified Chinese: 昆仑山; traditional Chinese: 崑崙山; pinyin: Kūnlún Shān, pronounced [kʰu̯ə́nlu̯ə̌n ʂán]; Mongolian: Хөндлөн Уулс Hundlun) are one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi). In the broadest sense, it forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin and the Gansu Corridor and continues east south of the Wei River to end at the North China Plain.

The exact definition of this range varies. An old source uses Kunlun to mean the mountain belt that runs across the center of China, that is, Kunlun in the narrow sense: Altyn Tagh along with the Qilian and Qin Mountains. A recent source has the Kunlun range forming most of the south side of the Tarim Basin and then continuing east south of the Altyn Tagh. Sima Qian (Shiji, scroll 123) says that Emperor Wu of Han sent men to find the source of the Yellow River and gave the name Kunlun to the mountains at its source. The name seems to have originated as a semi-mythical location in the classical Chinese text Shanhai Jing.


...
Wikipedia

...