Ryn Desert
Desert region of European Russia and Kazakhstan
title: "Ryn Desert" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["deserts-of-central-asia", "deserts-of-kazakhstan", "deserts-of-russia"] description: "Desert region of European Russia and Kazakhstan" topic_path: "geography/russia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryn_Desert" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Desert region of European Russia and Kazakhstan ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox landform"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ryn Desert |
| other_name | Нарын құмы / Рын-пески |
| type | Desert |
| photo | Ryn Desert.jpg |
| photo_caption | Ryn Desert area NASA image |
| map | Kazakhstan#Russia Astrakhan Oblast |
| relief | yes |
| coordinates | |
| surface_elevation_m | -20 |
| highest_elevation | 100 m |
| area | 40000 km2 |
| geology | |
| :: |
| name = Ryn Desert | other_name = Нарын құмы / Рын-пески | type = Desert | photo = Ryn Desert.jpg | photo_width = | photo_alt = | photo_caption =Ryn Desert area NASA image | map = Kazakhstan#Russia Astrakhan Oblast | relief = yes | map_image = | map_caption = | location = | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | range = | part_of = | water_bodies = | elevation_m = | elevation_ref = | surface_elevation_m = -20 | surface_elevation_ref = | highest_point = | highest_elevation = 100 m | highest_coords = | length = | width = | area = 40000 km2 | depth = | drop = | formed_by = | geology = | age = | orogeny = | volcanic_arc/belt = | volcanic_arc = | volcanic_belt = | volcanic_field = | eruption = | last_eruption = | topo = | operator = | designation = | free_label_1 = | free_data_1 = | free_label_2 = | free_data_2 = | website = | embed =
The Ryn Desert or Ryn-Peski Desert (, Naryn-Qūmy; ) is a desert in western Kazakhstan and Astrakhan Oblast, Russia.
Geography
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Карта_Внутренней_Киргизской_Орды_1842.jpg" caption="A 1842 Russian map showing the location of "Рын-пески""] ::
It is located north of the Caspian Sea and southeast of the Volga Upland. The borders of the desert are very loosely defined. Some maps show the desert almost entirely within the Caspian Depression, stretching almost to the coast of the Caspian Sea, while others show it north of the depression. It lies west of the Ural River between 46° N and 49° N latitude, and 48° E to 52° E longitude. Many small towns are scattered throughout the Ryn Desert, and population density is between 1 and 15 people per square mile. Aralsor lake lies at the northern edge.
Climate
The desert lies in a semi-arid climate zone, and receives very little rainfall.
Temperatures can reach extreme highs of 45 to during summer and in winter they can drop to a low of -28 to.
High winds sweep across the desert, and in 2001 a dust storm in the Baltic Sea was determined as originating in the Ryn Desert. A study of long-range dust transportation to the Baltic Sea region—by analyzing dust pollution in Scandinavia, showed that aerosol concentrations there were influenced more by the Ryn Desert region than the Sahara Desert in Africa.
References
- DK World Atlas, Millennium Edition, pgs. xxv, xxix, 258
- Russia’s Climate and Geography History Today
References
- "M-39 Topographic Chart (in Russian)".
- ''International Journal of Environment and Pollution'', 2004 - Vol. 22, No.1/2 pp. 72 – 86. ISSN 0957-4352
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::