Ordos Desert

The Ordos Desert, also known as the Mu Us Desert, (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: 鄂爾多斯沙漠; pinyin: ) is a desert and steppe region lying on a plateau in the south of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China (centered ca. 39°N 109°E / 39°N 109°E / 39; 109). The soil of the Ordos is a mixture of clay and sand and, as a result, is poorly suited for agriculture. It extends over an area of approximately 90,650 km². It comprises two large deserts: the 7th largest desert in China, the Kubuqi Desert (/庫布齊沙漠; pinyin: ) in the north, and the 8th largest desert in China, the Maowusu Desert (/毛烏素沙漠; pinyin: ), in the south.

The Ordos Desert is almost completely encircled by the Great Bend (Ordos Loop) of the Yellow River in the west, north, and east. Mountain ranges separate the Ordos from the Gobi Desert north and east of the Yellow River. The northern border serves as the southern border of the Mu Us Sandyland. The mountain chains separating the Ordos from the central Gobi in the north of the great bend of the Yellow River are: the Kara-naryn-ula, the Sheitenula, and the Yin Mountains, which link on to the south end of the Greater Khingan Mountains. In the south and east, the Great Wall of China separates the Ordos from fertile loess lands. The Ordos covers the southern section of the Inner Mongolia, an Autonomous Region of China, the Ningxia, an Autonomous Entity of China, and the Chinese Provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu.