Desert boundaries
The once and future Gobi
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5286987 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Troy Sternberg (0000-0002-2203-5226, School of Geography and the Environment University of Oxford Oxford OX2 6HY, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 181 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 61-72 |
| Publication date | 2015-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geographical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-7398 • E-ISSN: 1475-4959 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/geoj.12071 |
| OpenAlex | W1580322186 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 39 |
When Marco Polo journeyed to the court of Kublai Khan in 1271 he traversed a great sandy desert filled with 'extraordinary illusions' that became known as the Gobi desert. The continued use of term Gobi, first appearing in 1706, is a rare case of Mongolian ascendancy over the Chinese. Exploration of the Gobi as a mapping term seeks to understand how the desert was conceptualised and identified as a geographical region, an economic sphere and a political presence. Historically contested between China and Russia with Mongolia as a proxy, the desert is now home to 25 million people, mineral wealth and rapid development. As attention increases and the strategic region integrates into global systems, knowledge of the perceived desert boundaries becomes germane. In our era of data and demarcation with place names used to confer prior possession we examine how the Mongolian term 'gobi' rather than the Chinese equivalent 'shamo' prevailed. China dominates the region without asserting physical control; in fact, the term 'Gobi desert' is not recognised in China's geographical lexicon. Does past suzerainty offer insight to the present and potential future scenarios in the desert? New contextualisation presents the Gobi as a multi-dimensional space that, rather than a past construction, portends an emergent consciousness no longer isolated and insulated from regional and global currents
Archaeology · Desert (philosophy · Economic geography · Ethnology · Geography · Illusion · Political science · Politics · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Law · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Psychology · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
Modern Mongolia
Global desertification
Art. IV.— Summary Review of the Travels of Hiouen Thsang, from the Translation of the Si-yu-ki by M. Julien, and the Mémoire Analytique of M. Vivien de St. Martin
"Coming onto the Map"
Boundaries, Maps, and Movement
Sino-Mongolian relations and Mongolia's non-traditional security
Suffering What It Must? Mongolia and the Power of the ‘Weak’
Straight Lines and Stability
Political Conditions in Mongolia and Chinese Turkestan
Hominins, deserts, and the colonisation and settlement of continental Asia
Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History
Mongolia in 2009
Taiwan's Future
Re-conceptualising desert landscapes
Resources, Sovereignty, and Governance
The Geographical Pivot of History
Sustaining the Steppes
The New Map of China
Russia and China in Outer Mongolia
Mongolian Tenggerism and Modern Globalism
New Map of China
Mongolian conceptualizations of overtone singing(xöömii)
The Limits of Tartary
Qing Connections to the Early Modern World
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |