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{{About|the mountain|district of Ürümqi|Tianshan District}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2007}}
{{Infobox mountain range
| name=Tian Shan
| photo=West Tian Shan mountains.jpg
| photo_caption=The Tian Shan range on the border between China and Kyrgyzstan with [[Khan Tengri]] (7,010&nbsp;m) visible at center.
| country=China| country1=Kazakhstan| country2=Kyrgyzstan |country3=Uzbekistan
| region_type=
| region=[[Xinjiang]] | region1=[[Fergana Region]]
| highest=[[Jengish Chokusu]]
| elevation_m=7439
| elevation_note=
|range_coordinates = {{coord|42|N|80|E|type:mountain_region:KG_scale:300000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| range_coordinates_note=
|coordinates = {{coord|42|02|06|N|80|07|32|E|type:mountain_region:KG_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline}}
| coordinates_note=
| geology= | period=Cenozoic | orogeny=
|embedded={{designation list | embed=yes
   | designation1 = WHS
   | designation1_offname = Xinjiang Tianshan
   | designation1_date = [[List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription#2013 (37th session)|2013]] <small>(37th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
   | designation1_type = Natural
   | designation1_criteria = vii, ix
   | designation1_number = [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1414 1414]
   | designation1_free1name = State Party
   | designation1_free1value = China
   | designation1_free2name =  Region
   | designation1_free2value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia|Asia]]
   | designation2 = WHS
   | designation2_offname = Western Tien-Shan
   | designation2_date = [[List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription#2016 (40th session)|2016]] <small>(40th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
   | designation2_type = Natural
   | designation2_criteria = x
   | designation2_number = [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1490 1490]
   | designation2_free1name = State Party
   | designation2_free1value = Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
   | designation2_free2name =  Region
   | designation2_free2value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia|Asia]]
}}
}}
The '''Tian Shan''' ({{zh|c=天山|p=Tiānshān|w=T‘ien<sup>1</sup>shan<sup>1</sup>}}; [[Xiao'erjing]]: تِيًاشًا; {{lang-dng|Тянсан}}; ''Tjansan''; [[Old Turkic]]: '''𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃''', ''Tenğri tağ''; [[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''Tanrı Dağı''; {{lang-mn|Тэнгэр уул}}, ''Tenger úl''; {{lang-ug|تەڭرىتاغ}}, Тәңри тағ, ''Tengri tagh''; {{lang-ky|Теңир-Тоо/Ала-Тоо}}, ''Teñir-Too/Ala-Too'', تەڭىر-توو/الا-توو; {{lang-kk|Тәңіртауы/Алатау}}, ''Täñirtaw/Alataw'', تأڭئرتاۋ; {{lang-uz|Tyan-Shan}}, ''Тян-Шан'', تيەن-شەن), meaning the '''Mountain of [[Tian|Heaven]]''' or the '''Heavenly Mountain''', is a large system of mountain ranges located in [[Central Asia]]. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is [[Jengish Chokusu]], {{convert|7439|m|ft|0}}.

The Chinese name for Tian Shan may have been derived from the [[Xiongnu]] word ''Qilian'' ({{zh|s=祁连|t=祁連|p=Qí lián|w=Ch‘i<sup>2</sup> Lien<sup>2</sup>}}, [[Xiao'erjing]]: ٿِ لِيًا) – according to [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] commentator [[Yan Shigu]], ''Qilian'' is the Xiongnu word for sky or heaven.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qo9kCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT985&lpg=PT985#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=漢書: 顏師古註 Hanshu: Yan Shigu Commentary|quote=祁連山即天山也,匈奴呼天為祁連 (translation: Qilian Mountain is the Tian Shan, the Xiongnu called the sky qilian) |author=班固 Ban Gu}}</ref> [[Sima Qian]] in the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' mentioned ''Qilian'' in relation to the homeland of the [[Yuezhi]], and the term is believed to refer to the Tian Shan rather than the [[Qilian Mountains]] {{convert|1500|km}} further east now known by this name.<ref>{{citation |first=Xinru |last=Liu |authorlink=Xinru Liu |title=Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies |year=2001 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_world_history/v012/12.2liu.html |journal=Journal of World History |volume=Volume 12 |issue=Issue 2, Fall 2001 |pages=261–291 |publisher=Journal of World History}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Mallory, J. P.  |author2=Mair, Victor H.  |lastauthoramp=yes |page= 58|year=2000 |title=The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West |publisher=Thames & Hudson. London |isbn= 0-500-05101-1 }}</ref> The [[Tannu-Ola mountains]] in [[Tuva]] ({{lang-tyv|Таңды-Уула}}, ''Taᶇdь-Uula'') has the same meaning in its name ("heaven/celestial mountains" or "god/spirit mountains"). Tian Shan is sacred in [[Tengrism]], and its second-highest peak is known as [[Khan Tengri]] which may be translated as "Lord of the Spirits".<ref name="myths">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ7Lxae-bmIC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Myths and Legends |first= Philip |last=Wilkinson |page=163 |publisher= Stacey International |date=2 October 2003 |isbn=978-1900988612 }}</ref>

==Geography==
Tian Shan is north and west of the [[Taklamakan Desert]] and directly north of the [[Tarim Basin]] in the border region of [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], and [[Xinjiang]] in [[northwest China]]. In the south it links up with the [[Pamir Mountains]] and to north and east it meets the [[Altai Mountains]] of [[Mongolia]].  <!-- would not it be better say that the Pamir is between the Tianshan and the Hindu Kush? --Yes, it would.  Tian Shan nowhere near Pak or Xizang (Tibet); separated from Pak by the Hindu Kush and Pamirs -->

In Western cartography such as [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]], the eastern end of the Tian Shan is usually understood to be east of [[Ürümqi]], with the range to the east of that city known as the [[Bogda Shan]] as part of the Tian Shan.  Chinese cartography from the [[Han Dynasty]] to the present agrees, with the Tian Shan including the Bogda Shan and [[Barkol]] ranges.
[[File:tien shan sat.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Tian Shan Mountains from space, October 1997, with [[Issyk-Kul Lake]] in Kyrgyzstan at the northern end]]

The Tian Shan are a part of the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] [[Orogeny|orogenic belt]], which was formed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian [[Plate tectonics|plates]] in the [[Cenozoic]] era. They are one of the longest mountain ranges in [[Central Asia]] and stretch some {{convert|2800|km}} eastward from [[Tashkent]] in [[Uzbekistan]].

The highest peak in the Tian Shan is the [[Victory Peak]] (пик Победы in Russian or [[Jengish Chokusu]] in Kyrgyzstan) which, at {{convert|7439|m|ft|0}}, is also the [[Geography of Kyrgyzstan|highest point in Kyrgyzstan]] and is on the border with China.
The Tian Shan's second highest peak, [[Khan Tengri]] (Lord of the Spirits), straddles the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border and at {{convert|7010|m}} is the [[Geography of Kazakhstan|highest point of Kazakhstan]]. [[Mountaineering|Mountaineers]] class these as the two most northerly peaks over {{convert|7000|m}} in the world.

The [[Torugart Pass]], at {{convert|3752|m|ft|0}}, is located at the border between Kyrgyzstan and China's [[Xinjiang]] province. The forested [[Alatau]] ranges, which are at a lower altitude in the northern part of the Tian Shan, are inhabited by pastoral tribes that speak [[Turkic languages]].

The Tian Shan are separated from the [[Tibetan Plateau]] by the [[Taklimakan Desert]] and the [[Tarim Basin]] to the south.

The major rivers rising in the Tian Shan are the [[Syr Darya]], the [[Ili River]] and the [[Tarim River]]. The [[Aksu Canyon]] is a notable feature in the northwestern Tian Shan.

Continuous [[permafrost]] is typically found in the Tian Shan starting at the elevation of about 3,500-3,700 m above the sea level. Discontinuous alpine permafrost usually occurs down to 2,700-3,300 m, but in certain locations, due to the peculiarity of the [[Aspect (geography)|aspect]] and the [[microclimate]], it can be found at elevations as low as 2,000 m.<ref>{{citation|contribution=Geocryology in Mt. Tianshan|first=A.P.|last=Gorbunov
|title=PERMAFROST: Sixth International Conference. Proceedings. July 5-9, Beijing, China|volume=2
|publisher=South China University of Technology Press
|pages=1105–1107
|isbn=7-5623-0484-X
|year=1993}}</ref>

One of the first Europeans to visit and the first to describe the Tian Shan in detail was the Russian explorer [[Peter Semenov of Tian Shan|Peter Semenov]], who did so in the 1850s.

Glaciers in the Tian Shan Mountains have been rapidly shrinking and have lost 27%, or 5.4 billion tons annually, of its ice mass since 1961 compared to an average of 7% worldwide.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/central-asia-mountain-range-has-lost-a-quarter-of-ice-mass-in-50-years-study-says-1439823730|title = Central Asia Mountain Range Has Lost a Quarter of Ice Mass in 50 Years, Study Says|last = Naik|first = Gautam|date = August 17, 2015|work = |access-date = August 18, 2015|via = |newspaper = Wall Street Journal}}</ref> It is estimated that by 2050 half of the remaining glaciers will have melted.

==Ranges==

The Tian Shan have a number of named ranges which are often mentioned separately (all distances are approximate).
[[Image:Seidenstrasse GMT Ausschnitt Zentralasien.jpg|350px|Thumb|right| Tian Shan with the ancient silk road]]

In China the Tian Shan starts north of [[Kumul City]] (Hami) with the U-shaped Barkol Mountains, from about {{convert|600|to|400|km}} east of [[Ürümqi]].  Then the [[Bogda Shan]] (god mountains) run from {{convert|350|to|40|km}} east of Ürümqi.  Then there is a low area between Ürümqi and the [[Turfan Depression]].  The [[Borohoro Mountains]] start just south of Ürümqi and run west northwest {{convert|450|km}} separating [[Dzungaria]] from the [[Ili River]] basin.  Their north end abuts on the {{convert|200|km}} [[Dzungarian Alatau]] which run east northeast along Sino-Kazakh border. They start {{convert|50|km}} east of [[Taldykorgan]] in Kazakhstan and end at the [[Dzungarian Gate]]. The [[Dzungarian Alatau]] in the north, the [[Borohoro Mountains]] in the middle and the [[Ketmen Range]] in the south make a reversed Z or S, the northeast enclosing part of Dzungaria and the southwest enclosing the upper Ili valley.
[[Image:Kyrgyzstan Topography.png|thumb|350px|Kyrgyzstan (borders marked in red) The indentation on the west is the Fergana Valley]]
[[Image:E8314-Koshkol-beach-umbrellas.jpg|thumb|Snow-capped peaks of [[Kyungey Ala-Too]] seen from an [[Issyk Kul Lake]] beach]]
In [[Kyrgyzstan]] the main line of the Tian Shan continues as [[Narat Range]] from the base of the [[Borohoro]]s west {{convert|570|km}} to the point where China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan meet.  Here is the highest part of the range – the Central Tian Shan, with [[Peak Pobeda]] ([[Kakshaal Too]] range) and [[Khan Tengri]]. West of this, the Tian Shan split into an ‘eye’, with [[Issyk Kul Lake]] in its center.  The south side of the lake is the [[Terskey Alatau]] and the north side the [[Kyungey Ala-Too]] (shady and sunny Ala-Too).  North of the Kyungey Ala-Too and parallel to it is the  [[Trans-Ili Alatau]] in Kazakhstan just south of [[Almaty]].   West of the eye, the range continues {{convert|400|km}} as the [[Kyrgyz Ala-Too]], separating [[Chui Province]] from [[Naryn Oblast]] and then Kazakhstan from the [[Talas Province]].  This [[oblast]] is the upper valley of the [[Talas River]], the south side of which is the {{convert|200|km}} [[Talas Ala-Too Range]] ('Ala-too' is a Kirgiz spelling of Alatau).   At the east end of the Talas Alatau the [[Suusamyr Too]] range runs southeast enclosing the [[Suusamyr Valley]] or plateau.

As for the area south of the [[Fergana Valley]] there is a {{convert|800|km}} group of mountains that curves west-southwest from south of Issyk Kul Lake separating the [[Tarim Basin]] from the [[Fergana Valley]].  The [[Fergana Range]] runs northeast towards the Talas Ala-Too and separaties the upper Naryn basin from Fergana proper.  The southern side of these mountains merge into the [[Pamirs]] in Tajikistan ([[Alay Mountains]] and [[Trans-Alay Range]]). West of this is the [[Turkestan Range]], which continues almost to Samarkand.

==Ice Age ==
On the north margin of the [[Tarim basin]] between the mountain chain of the [[Kokshaal-Tau]] in the south and that one of the [[Terskey Alatau]] in the north there stretches the 100 to 120&nbsp;km wide Tian Shan plateau with its set up mountain landscape.The Kokshaal-Tau continues with an overall length of 570&nbsp;km from W of Pik Dankowa ([[Dankov]], 5986 m) up to east-north-east to Pik Pobedi ([[Tumor Feng]], 7439 m) and beyond it. This mountain chain as well as that of the 300&nbsp;km long parallel mountain chain of the Terskey Alatau and the Tian Shan plateau situated in between, during glacial times were covered by connected ice-stream-networks and a plateau glacier. Currently the interglacial remnant of this glaciation is formed by the only just 61&nbsp;km long [[South Inylschek]] glacier. The outlet glacier tongues of the plateau glacier flowed to the north as far as down to Lake [[Issyk Kul]] (Lake) at 1605 (1609) m asl calving in this 160&nbsp;km long lake.

In the same way strongly glaciated was the in excess of 50&nbsp;km wide high mountain area of the [[Kungey Alatau]] connected north of Issyk Kul and stretching as far as the mountain foreland near Alma Ata. The Kungey Alatau is 230&nbsp;km long. Down from the Kungey Alatau the glacial glaciers also calved into the Issyk Kul lake.Its Chon-Kemin valley was glaciated up to its inflow into the Chu valley.<ref name="meteorological1994">Kuhle, M. (1994):''New Findings on the Ice-cover between Issyk-Kul and K2 (Tian Shan, Karakorum) during the Last Glaciation.'' Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains (ISKKM), Kashi, China, June 1992. (Eds: Zheng Du; Zhang Qingsong; Pan Yusheng) China Meteorological Press, Beijing, 185-197.</ref><ref>Grosswald, M. G., Kuhle, M., Fastook, J. L., (1994):''Würm Glaciation of Lake Issyk-Kul Area, Tian Shan Mts.: A Case Study in Glacial History of Central Asia.'' Kuhle, M. (Ed.). Tibet and High Asia. Results of the Sino-German and Russian-German Joint Expeditions (III). GeoJournal, 33, (2/3), Dordrecht, Boston, London, Kluwer, pp. 273-310.</ref><ref name="autogenerated175">Kuhle, M. (2004):''The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and LGM) glacier cover in High- and Central Asia. Accompanying text to the mapwork in hand with detailed references to the literature of the underlying empirical investigations.'' Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P. L. (Eds.). Extent and Chronology of Glaciations, Vol. 3 (Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica). Amsterdam, Elsevier B.V., pp. 175-199.</ref> From the west-elongation of the Kungey Alatau –that is the Kirgizskiy Alatau range (42°25’N/74° - 75°E) - the glacial glaciers flowed down as far as into the mountain foreland down to 900 m asl (close to the town [[Bishkek]]). Among others the [[Ak-Sai]] valley glacier has developed there a mountain foreland glacier.<ref name="meteorological1994"/><ref>Kuhle, M. & Schröder, N. (2000):''New Investigations and Results on the Maximum Glaciation of the Kirgisen Shan and Tian Shan Plateau between Kokshaal Tau and Terskey Alatau.'' Zech, W. (Ed.). Pamir and Tian Shan. Contribution of the Quaternary History. International Workshop at the University of Bayreuth. Abstracts. Bayreuth, University Bayreuth, p. 8.</ref><ref name="autogenerated175"/>

Altogether the glacial Tian Shan glaciation occupied an area of c. 118 000&nbsp;km² .The glacier snowline (ELA) as altitude limit between glacier feeding area and melting zone had decreased about 1200 altitude metres compared with today. 
Under the condition of a comparable precipitation ratio there would result from this a depression of the average annual temperature of 7.2 to 8.4&nbsp;°C for the Würm-ice age (Last Glacial period = MIS 2) compared with today. 
<ref name="meteorological1994"/>

==Ecology==
[[File:Shymbulak Valley - IMG8510.jpg|thumb|In the [[Trans-Ili Alatau]] ([[Shymbulak]] Valley)]]
The Tian Shan holds important forests of Schrenk's Spruce (''[[Picea schrenkiana]]'') at altitudes of over {{convert|2000|m}}; the lower slopes have unique natural forests of wild [[Persian Walnut|walnut]]s and [[apple]]s.<ref>http://www.salon.com/2011/10/25/how_the_apple_took_over_the_planet/</ref>

==Religion==
===Chinese religion===
In [[Chinese traditional religion]] and [[Daoism]], Tian Shan is associated to the most high God, ''[[Tian]]'' itself. It is also regarded as the location of the peach tree of [[immortality]] wardened by [[Xiwangmu]], the Queen Mother of the West.

===Tengrism===
In [[Tengrism]], Khan [[Tengri]] is the lord of all spirits and the religion's supreme deity, and it is the name given to the second highest peak of Tian Shan.<ref name="myths"/>

==World Heritage Site==
At the 2013 [[World Heritage Committee|Conference on World Heritage]], the eastern portion of Tian Shan in western China's Xinjiang Region was listed as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>[http://news.163.com/13/0621/13/91T6F65N00014JB6.html 新疆天山成功申遗]</ref> The western portion in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan was then listed in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Western Tien-Shan|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1490|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|accessdate=17 July 2016|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Kyrgyzstan}}
* [[Tectonics of the Tian Shan]]
* [[Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky]]
* [[Makan Map]]

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist|2}}

;Bibliography
* ''The Contemporary Atlas of China''. 1988. London: Marshall Editions Ltd. Reprint 1989. Sydney: Collins Publishers Australia.
* ''The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World''. Eleventh Edition. 2003. Times Books Group Ltd. London.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Tian Shan}}
* [http://mountains.tos.ru/tiensh.htm Russian mountaineering site]
* [http://concise.britannica.com/dday/print?articleId=110526&fullArticle=true&tocId=47937 Tien Shan]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/UNUChannel#p/a/u/2/G2oHQ6Al0kQ United Nations University (2009) digital video "Finding a place to feed: Kyrgyz shepherds & pasture loss": Shepherd shares family's observations and adaptation to the changing climate in highland pastures of Kyrgyzstan's Tian Shan mountains] <small>Accessed 1 December 2009</small>

{{Mountain ranges of China}}
{{World Heritage Sites in China}}
{{Xinjiang topics}}
{{Portal bar|Mountains|China}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mountain ranges of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in China]]
[[Category:Sites along the Silk Road]]