Kopet Dag semi-desert
Kopet Dag semi-desert
The Kopet Dag semi-desert is a small ecoregion that crosses the border between southwestern Turkmenistan and northeastern Iran. It sits at the southern edge of the Kopet Dag mountains and acts as a transition between the deserts to the north and west and the foothill steppes and woodlands to the east and south.
The land is mostly barren semi-desert, with takir—seasonal salt flats formed in low-lying depressions between dunes. Much of the area sits at low elevations along the mountain bases, including a 20 km-wide strip of cultivated land that stretches about 300 km east to the capital Ashgabat. Between this ecoregion and the Caspian Sea lies a strip of Caspian lowland desert. To the north is the Central Asian southern desert, while to the south are the Kopet Dag woodlands and the Caspian Hyrcanian forests.
The ecoregion is roughly 350 km from west to east and about 200 km from north to south. Its climate is cold semi-arid (BSk), with precipitation typically below evaporation. Annual rainfall may reach around 200 mm, and at least one month averages below 0°C (32°F).
Vegetation is sparse, though there is some cultivation along the northern edge and some ground cover in the southern Iran portion. There are few protected areas; a small part of Golestan National Park in Iran extends into the Kopet Dag semi-desert.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:23 (CET).