Kazakh Steppe

The Kazakh Steppe (Kazakh: Қазақ даласы, romanized: Qazaq dalasy), also known as the Great Steppe or Great Dala (Kazakh: Ұлы дала, romanized: Ūly dala), is a vast region of open grassland in Central Asia, covering areas in northern Kazakhstan and adjacent areas of Russia. It lies east of the Pontic–Caspian steppe and west of the Emin Valley steppe, with which it forms the central and western part of the Eurasian steppe. The Kazakh Steppe is an ecoregion of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublandsbiome in the Palearctic realm. Before the mid-19th century, it was called the Kirghiz steppe, 'Kirghiz' being an old Russian word for the Kazakhs.