Silk Road

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Map showing the Silk Road network at its peak between 700 and 900 CE, spanning Eurasia and North Africa. It highlights primary overland trade routes in pink, secondary routes in orange, and sea routes in blue, connecting cities such as Chang'an (Xi'an), Samarkand, Baghdad, Constantinople, Venice, and extending to ports along the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and East Asia. Modern international boundaries are also outlined.

Trade caravans on the Silk Road

Rocky stream flowing into Karakul Lake with snow-capped Pamir Mountains in the background, under a clear sky in Xinjiang, China.

Marco Polo on the Silk Road

Journey along the Silk Road: History and myths

Pamirs and Silk Road, China

Eroded, sandy-colored ruins of ancient stone structures rise from a barren, dry landscape at the ancient city of Jiaohe under a clear sky.

Turfan Depression

Silk Road: Media

trade route

Videos

Journey along the Silk Road: History and myths

Journey along the Silk Road: History and myths

Overview of the Silk Road.

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Daniel Prudek/Dreamstime.com

Images

Map showing the Silk Road network at its peak between 700 and 900 CE, spanning Eurasia and North Africa. It highlights primary overland trade routes in pink, secondary routes in orange, and sea routes in blue, connecting cities such as Chang'an (Xi'an), Samarkand, Baghdad, Constantinople, Venice, and extending to ports along the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and East Asia. Modern international boundaries are also outlined.

The Silk Road network at its peak (700–900 ce)

Map depicting the Silk Road network during the era of the Tang dynasty and the Abbasid...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Refugio Mariscal

Trade caravans on the Silk Road

Trade caravans on the Silk Road

Illustration of a merchant caravan traveling through Central Asia along the Silk...

© North Wind Picture Archives

Rocky stream flowing into Karakul Lake with snow-capped Pamir Mountains in the background, under a clear sky in Xinjiang, China.

Lake in the Pamirs

Lake in the Pamirs, western Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, western China.

© cam/Shutterstock.com

Marco Polo on the Silk Road

Marco Polo on the Silk Road

Caravan of Marco Polo traveling along the Silk Road.

Geography and Map Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (gct00215-ca000005)

Goat herding

Goat herding

Herding goats along the ancient Silk Road, northern Takla Makan Desert, China.

Bob Thomason/Tony Stone Worldwide

pagoda

pagoda

Pagoda along the Silk Road, Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China.

© Corbis

Pamirs and Silk Road, China

Pamirs and Silk Road, China

Peaks of the Pamirs rising above a portion of the Silk Road (foreground), Uygur Autonomous...

© Nniud/Fotolia

Eroded, sandy-colored ruins of ancient stone structures rise from a barren, dry landscape at the ancient city of Jiaohe under a clear sky.

Jiaohe

Portion of the ruins of the ancient city of Jiaohe, Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang,...

© Suronin/Dreamstime

Turfan Depression

Turfan Depression

Portion of the northern Turfan Depression along the Silk Road, Uyghur Autonomous...

© Nniud/Fotolia

Map showing the Silk Road trade routes across Asia, with main routes marked in red stretching from Shanghai and Chang'an (Xi'an) in eastern China, passing through cities such as Lanzhou, Dunhuang, and Kashgar, then westward across Central Asia through Samarkand, Bukhara, and reaching the region of Anatolia. The map also marks geographic features like the Gobi Desert, Takla Makan Desert, and the Himalayas, as well as the Great Royal Road leading into India.

Silk Road

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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