Junggar Pendi

Junggar Pendi or Dzungarian Basin, region of China, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, between the Tian Shan range on the south and the Altay Mountains on the north. On the west it is bounded by Kazakhstan and on the east by Mongolia. A semidesert basin area, roughly triangular in shape, Junggar Pendi is the source of the Ertix He (Qara Ertis) and Ili rivers. The name of the region is derived from the Dzungar, one of the tribes under Mongolian rule during the 17th century. In 1759 the Chinese, after long campaigns, conquered and annexed the area, and settled it largely with colonists from China.