Abstract:Based on the global monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration grid data set of the Climate Research Institute of the University of East Anglia, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) was used as the drought index, and the Improved Intensity-Area-Duration (IAD) method was adopted to analyze the Belt and Road region drought events and population exposure characteristics. Results show that:(1) during 1960 to 2016, the Belt and Road region is found under a trend of drying, but the drought is eased since 1992, and the spatially significant arid regions are mainly distributed over the Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mongolia, China and other countries. (2) In the region, drought events occur 89 times annually, mainly lasting for 1-2 months, accounting for 82% of the total event frequency; the average annual affected area is about 0.92×108 km2, and the drought events lasting for 3-5 months usually affect the largest area, which accounts for about 44.8% of the total affected areas. The strongest central intensity of drought events reaches extreme drought intensity. (3) The frequency, affected area and intensity of the strongest center of drought events in the 3-5 and 6-8 consecutive months show an increasing trend, which requires attention. (4) The multi-year average population exposure of regional drought events is 543 million and the population exposure of drought events of different duration increases significantly. Especially after 2000, the average annual population exposure reaches 788 million, which is 45% higher than the multi-year average.