Ordos Desert

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Ordos Desert Ordos Plateau steppe
Ordos steppe landscape
Ecology
Realm	Palearctic
Biome	montane grasslands and shrublands
Borders	List Alashan Plateau semi-desert Central China loess plateau mixed forests Helanshan montane conifer forests Mongolian–Manchurian grassland, Southeast Tibet shrub and meadows
Geography
Area	215,952 km2 (83,380 sq mi)
Country	China
Provinces	Gansu Inner Mongolia Ningxia Shaanxi, Shanxi
Conservation
Conservation status	Critical/endangered[1]
Protected	0.04%[2]

The Ordos Desert (simplified Chinese: 鄂尔多斯沙漠; traditional Chinese: 鄂爾多斯沙漠; pinyin: È'ěrduōsī Shāmò) is a desert/steppe region in Northwest China, administered under the prefecture of Ordos City in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (centered ca. 39°N 109°E / 39°N 109°E / 39; 109). It extends over an area of approximately 90,650 km² (35,000 sq mi), and comprises two sub-deserts: China's 7th-largest desert, the Kubuqi Desert, in the north; and China's 8th-largest desert, the Mu Us Desert, in the south. Wedged between the arable Hetao region to the north and the Loess Plateau to the south, the soil of the Ordos Desert is mostly a mixture of dry clay and sand, and as a result is poorly suited for agriculture.