Tien Shan

Chinese Tien Shan, a vast mountain range in Central Asia. Its name translates to "Celestial Mountains" in Chinese. It roughly bisects the historic region of Turkistan and stretches 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from west-southwest to east-northeast. It primarily spans the border between China and Kyrgyzstan. Its eastern and western extremities are at times around 300 miles (500 km) broad, but the center is only about 220 miles (350 km) wide.

The Junggar (Dzungarian) Basin in northwest China and the southern Kazakhstan plains encircle the Tien Shan, while the Tarim (Talimu) Basin borders it to the southeast. The Alay, Surkhandarya, and Hisor valleys, along with the Pamirs to the south, form the system's limits as the Hisor (Gissar) and Alay ranges of Tajikistan stretch into a portion of the Tien Shan. The Qarata Range and the Sh-Ile Mountains, which stretch far to the northwest into the plains of eastern Kazakhstan, are also part of the Tien Shan. Within these bounds, the Tien Shan covers a total area of approximately 386,000 square miles (1,000,000 square km).

The Tien Shan mountain range's greatest peaks are located in a core knot-shaped group of mountains, from which ridges spread along the borders of China, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

Location: straddles the border between China and Kyrgyzstan

Lenth of range: 1,500 mi