Abstract:Based on the four TM images of Naiman Banner in Inner Mongolia in 1975, 1985, 1995 and 2005, the extent and relative rate of land use change were used as the indices to analyze the regional difference of land use/cover change in the farmingpasturing zone of Naiman Banner, and the indices abundance and importance value were adopted to analyze the spatial distribution features of land use/cover change in the study area. The results showed that from 1975 to 2005, the types of land use/cover became diversified. The annual change rate was high, and the regional difference was significant. In the northern alluvial plain sub-area, woodland area increased rapidly and largely, while sandy land area decreased obviously. The changing speed of the areas of meadow and sandy land was the fastest, while that of residential area was the slowest. The main forms of land conversion were the conversion from sandy land to cropland and woodland. In the middle sandy land subarea, sandy land had a wide distribution. The changes of other land use types were comparatively small, and the main form of land conversion was the interconversion between cropland and sandy land. In southern loess sub-area, cropland was the dominant land use type and had the smallest change, m eadow and sandy land changed most quickly, and the conversion from meadow to cropland and woodland was the most important land conversion form. Natural factors determined the principal characteristics of land use structure in each sub-area of the study area, and artificial factors determined the changing trends of each land use type in each sub-area.