The word Gobi means "desert" in Mongolian. The Gobi is a large desert region in northern China and southern Mongolia.
The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north,
by the Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southwest.
The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire,
and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.