The Central Asian Inland Basin is the largest of 3 major hydrological basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

s that cover Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

 (cf.

Cf.

cf., an abbreviation for the Latin word confer , literally meaning "bring together", is used to refer to other material or ideas which may provide similar or different information or arguments. It is mainly used in scholarly contexts, such as in academic or legal texts...

 Arctic Drainage Basin & Pacific Drainage Basin).

The basin further includes the watersheds of the Great Lakes Depression

Great Lakes Depression

The Great Lakes Depression is a large semi-arid depression in Mongolia that covers parts of the Uvs, Khovd, Zavkhan and Govi-Altai aimags. Bounded by the Altai in the West, Khangai in the East and Tannu-Ola Mountains in the North,...

, the Valley of Lakes, and the lowlands of the Gobi Desert

Gobi Desert

The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...

.

It is separated from the other two basins by the ridges of the Khangai Mountains and Khentii Mountains

Khentii Mountains

The Khentii Mountains are a mountain range in the Töv and Khentii Provinces in northern Mongolia. The chain overlaps the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area and includes Mongolia's sacred mountain, Burkhan Khaldun, which is associated with the origin of Genghis Khan.The range forms the watershed...

, which also demarcates the Arctic and Pacific basins).