The process of urbanization and changes of the landscape in Yanchi County,Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region,a typical desert region,between 1989and 2007were studied with the support of the"3S" technology,landscape analysis software and statistical analysis.Results showed the level of Yanchi County's urbanization rapidly grew in 1985-1990and the rate of change was between 54% and 73.4%.Since 1990,thelevel of urbanization has decreased slowly,from an average annual growth of 3.88%in previous time to anaverage annual decrease of 0.53%.In the process of urbanization,landscape pattern changes reflected the reductions of diversity,evenness,separation and fragmentation,as well as the increases of the aggregation.The urbanization level of such a typical desert region grew distinctly in the past 20years,and landscape pattern changes also showed distinct phases.The influence of urbanization on the ecological environment is positive,complemented each other.Under the economic development and the right policy guidance,the ecological environment has improved and the specific urbanization has developed steadily.