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Altai Mountains
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The Altai Mountains. Mongolia: Gobi Altai Mountains Grassy meadow with a cluster of trees beside a calm body of water, set against a forested mountain slope in the Altai Mountains, Altay republic, Russia. Mount Belukha
Mating rituals of argalis and Siberian elk
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Mongolia: Gobi Altai Mountains
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The Altai Mountains.
The Altai Mountains.

Altai Mountains

mountain range, Asia
Also known as: Altai Shan, Altay, Altayn Nuruu
Written by
Lewis Owen
Assistant Professor of Geology, University of California, Riverside. Author of An Introduction to Global Environmental Issues and Environmental Management: Readings and Case Studies.
Lewis OwenAll
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Altai Mountains, complex mountain system of Central Asia extending approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km) in a southeast-northwest direction from the Gobi (Desert) to the West Siberian Plain, through China, Mongolia, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The jagged mountain ridges derive their name from the Turkic-Mongolian altan, meaning “golden.” The system has three main subdivisions: the Altai proper (formerly called the Soviet Altai) and the Mongolian and Gobi Altai. A peak in the Altai proper, Belukha—at an elevation...

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