Transhimalaya

The Transhimalaya (also spelled Trans-Himalaya), or Gangdise – Nyenchen Tanglha range (Chinese: 冈底斯-念青唐古拉山脉; pinyin: Gāngdǐsī-Niànqīngtánggǔlā Shānmài), is a 1,600-kilometre-long (990 mi) mountain range in China, India and Nepal, extending in a west–east direction parallel to the main Himalayan range. Located north of Yarlung Tsangpo river on the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, the Transhimalaya is composed of the Gangdise range to the west and the Nyenchen Tanglha range to the east. The name Transhimalaya was introduced by the Swedish geographer Sven Hedin in the early 20th century. The Transhimalaya was described by the Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer in 1952 as an "ill-defined mountain area" with "no marked crest line or central alignment and no division by rivers." On more-modern maps the Kailas Range (Gangdise or Kang-to-sé Shan) in the west is shown as distinct from the Nyenchen Tanglha range in the east.