The Kyzyl Kum (Uzbek: Qizilqum, Kazakh: Қызылқұм), also called Qyzylqum, is the 11th largest desert in the world. Its name means Red Sand in Turkic languages. It is located in Central Asia in the doab between the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya, and is divided between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and (partly) Turkmenistan. It covers about 298,000 km² (approximately 115,000 sq mi).

The territory consists mainly of an extensive plain at an altitude up to 300 m (about 1000 feet) above sea level, with a number of depressions and highlands (Sultanuizdag, Bukantau). Most of the area is covered with sand-dunes (barchans); in the North-West large areas are covered with takirs (clay coatings); there are also some oases. There are agricultural settlements along the rivers and in the oases. Temperatures can be very high during the summer months, from mid-May to mid-September. Kerki, one extreme inland city located on the banks of the Amu Darya River, recorded 51.7C in July 1983.

Desert fauna include the Russian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) and a large lizard known as the Transcaspian or Desert Monitor (Varanus griseus), which can reach lengths of 1.6 m (5 ft). The Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) also occasionally migrates through the northern part of the desert.

Kyzyl (Russian: Кызы́л; Tuvan: Кызыл) is the capital city of the Tuva Republic, Russia. The name of the city means "red" in Tuvan (as well as in many other Turkic languages). Population: 109,906 (2010 Census preliminary results); 104,105 (2002 Census); 84,641 (1989 Census).

Kyzyl claims to be located exactly in the geographical center of Asia. Whether these coordinates are in fact the center of Asia is disputed. However, there is a monument labelled "Center of Asia" in English, Russian, and Tuvan which asserts this claim. Tos-Bulak is the area of open fields and mineral springs which lies immediately south of Kyzyl.

Kyzyl is located where the Yenisei River meets the Maly Yenisey River to form the Verkhny Yenisey. Most development is south of the river and follow the curves of the river, with the highest development centered where the two headstreams of the Yenisei, the Bolshoy Yenisey, and the Maly Yenisey, meet. A monument was built in 1964 on the river bank to mark this.

It was founded in 1914 as Belotsarsk (Белоца́рск).^{[citation needed]} In 1918, it was renamed Khem-Beldyr (Хем-Белды́р), and in 1926 it was given its present name.^{[citation needed]} In September 2004, Kyzyl celebrated its 90th anniversary as a city.