Xinjiang
Xinjiang (新疆;
Pinyin: Xīnjiāng;
Postal Pinyin: Sinkiang;
Wade-Giles: Hsin-chiang; literal meaning: "New Frontier")
Uighur Autonomous Region of the
People's Republic of China, sometimes known as
Chinese Turkestan or
Eastern Turkestan (
Turkestan also spelt
Turkistan). The capital is
Urumqi. Xinjiang's area is 1,650,000 km² (637,000 sq.mi) and the population is estimated at about 19 million.
History
Traversed by the Silk Road, Xinjiang has been loosely controlled by China since the Han Dynasty. However, because it is far from eastern China, it has been mostly autonomous. It has also been ruled by the Mongols, Uighurs, and the pre-Turkic Tocharians. The Qing Empire established Xinjiang Province in 1884.
In the period before the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Xinjiang was ruled by the warlord Sheng Shicai.
The autonomous region was established on October 1, 1955.
Subdivisions
\nXinjiang contains 2 prefecture-level cities, 7 prefecturess, and 5 autonomous prefectures. Below them, there are 11 districts, 20 county-level cities, 62 counties, and 6 autonomous counties. Four of the county-level cities do not belong to any prefecture, so are administered directly by the province. They are the direct-control county-level administrative units (直轄縣級行政單位).
{| border=1 cellpadding=4\n! Conventional !! Hanzi !! Pinyin !! Uyghur \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|colspan=4 | Autonomous prefectures\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Urumqi ||烏魯木齊市|| Wūlǔmùqí || Ürümqi \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Karamay ||克拉瑪依市|| Kèlāmǎyī || Ķaramay \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|colspan=4 | Direct-control cities\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Shihezi ||石河子市|| Shíhézǐ || Xihənzə \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Tumushuk? ||圖木舒克市|| Túmùshūkè || \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Alar ||阿拉尔市 || Ālāěr || \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Wujiaqu ||五家渠市|| Wǔjiāqú || \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|colspan=5 | Prefectures\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Turpan ||吐魯番地區|| Tùlǔfān || Turpan \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Kumul ||哈密地區|| Hāmì || Ķumul \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Hotan ||和田地區|| Hétián || Hotən \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Aksu ||阿克蘇地區|| Ākèsù || Aķsu \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Kashgar ||喀什地區|| Kāshí || Ķəxķər \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|colspan=4 | Autonomous prefectures\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Kezilesu? ||克孜勒苏州|| Kèzīlèsū || Ķizilsu \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|Bayinguoleng?||巴音郭楞州|| Bāyìnguōléng || Bayinƣolin \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Changji ||昌吉州|| Chāngjí || Sanji \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Bole ||博爾塔拉州|| Bóěrtǎlā || Bortala \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Illi ||伊犁州|| Yīlí || Ili \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|}
Geography
Xinjiang is the largest political subdivision of China. Xinjiang is divided into two basins by Mount Tianshan. Dzungarian Basin is in the north, and Tarim Basin is in the south.
Xinjiang's lowest point is 155 metres below sea level (lowest point in China as well). Its highest peak is 8611 metres above sea level on the border with Kashmir.
The Xinjiang-Kyrgyzstan border is marked by the
Tian Shan mountain range. The
Torugart Pass (3752 m) is located on this border.
The
Karakorum highway (KKH) links
Islamabad,
Pakistan with
Kashgar over the
Khunjerab Pass.
Rivers include:
Tarim River
Major Cities:\n*
Urumqi\n*
Turpan\n*
Kashgar\n*Karamay\n*Yining\n*Shihezi
Economy
Xinjiang is known for its fruits and produce including grapes and melons.
Cotton,
wheat,
silk, walnuts, and
sheep are also produced. Xinjiang also has large deposits of minerals and
oil.
Demographics
Xinjiang is home to several Muslim Turkic groups including the
Uighurs and the
Kazakhs. Other minority
ethnic groups include
Hui Chinese, the
Kirghiz, the
Mongols, the
Russians, the Xibes, the
Tajik, the
Uzbek, the
Tatars, and the
Manchus.
Xinjiang has seen a similar struggle to
Tibet's in maintaining its culture. The percentage of ethnic
Han Chinese in Xinjiang has grown from 6 percent in 1949 to 40 percent at present.
The Uighurs trace descent to both the Turkic Uighurs and the pre-Turkic Indoeuropean
Tocharians (or Tokharians), and fair-skin, hair and eyes, as well as other 'Caucasoid' physical traits, are not uncommon among them.\n{| border=1 cellpadding=5\n| + Populations of ethnicities in 1990\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n! Ethnicity!! Population !! % \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|
Uighur || 7,093,800|| 47.33 \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|
Han || 5,647,200|| 37.68\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|
Kazakh ||111.4,700 ||7.44 \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Hui || 74,100|| 4.50\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Kirgiz ||14.1,300 ||0.94 \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|Mongols || 139,700|| 0.93\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|Tajik || 33,700|| 0.22\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Xibe || 33,500|| 0.22\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Manchus || 16,200||0.11 \n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Uzbek || 11,200|| 0.07\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Russ ||7321 || 0.05\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|Daur || 5531|| 0.04\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Tatar || 3910|| 0.02\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n| Others || 6.51|| 0.34\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n|}
In 2002, there were 9,632,600 males (growth rate of 1.0%) and 9,419,300 females (growth rate of 2.2%). The population overall growth rate was 10.9‰, with 16.3‰ of
birth rate and 5.4‰
mortality rate.
Culture
Tourism
Miscellaneous topics
\nMain article: List of East Turkestan-related topics
Professional sports teams in Xinjiang include:
- Chinese Football Association\n** None\n* Chinese Basketball Association\n** Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers
Xinjiang is the home of the Lop Nur testing site for China's
nuclear weapons program.
East Turkestan separatists who support "Uighur independence" are active in Xinjiang.
External links
\n* Official site (in
Simplified Chinese and
Traditional Chinese)\n*
Xinjiang University\n*
Subdivision info (in Simplified Chinese)
\n\n\n\n\nzh-cn:新疆维吾尔族自治区
