The Taklamakan Desert is the second largest sand desert on Earth after the Rub' al Khali. It stretches across Central Asia in the northwestern Chinese Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, through the western part of the Tarim Basin. The Taklamakan Desert occupies about two-thirds of Xinjiang, with an area of approximately 300,000 square kilometers. It is mostly covered with sand dunes, some reaching heights of over 100 meters, with some reports indicating dunes as high as 300 meters.
