"Tanaris, or the Tanaris Desert, is a desert located in Southern Kalimdor, east of Un'Goro Crater and south of Thousand Needles. It is an arid land, covered in sand dunes and frequently exposed to dangerous sandstorms. The Steamwheedle Cartel goblins have established Steamwheedle Port and Gadgetzan as their main centers of operation. The dock in Steamwheedle Port was presumably used for transport to the outer islands of the Undermine, the goblin capital, but it was destroyed in the cataclysm, which also brought the ocean to Gadgetzan, where the goblins built a new dock for their shipping needs.

When the Great Sundering shattered the ancient landmass, the area swiftly became the desert of Tanaris. The sandfury tribe of sand trolls were stranded here and eventually adapted to their harsh new environment.

Tanaris is the ancestral home of the bronze dragonflight based out of the Caverns of Time. The titans also have a holding here in the form of an entrance to the ancient land of Uldum, found in the southern parts of the desert. It was here that Anachronos first discovered the full threat of the silithid, who had been making hives in the remote regions of Tanaris. The War of the Shifting Sands was consequently unleashed upon the western land of Silithus."

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