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Xinjiang (Chinese: 新疆; pinyin: Xīnjiāng; Wade-Giles: Hsin1-chiang1; Postal Pinyin:
Sinkiang; literal meaning: "New Frontier"; Uyghur:
شينجاڭ) Uyghurs Autonomous Region of the
People's Republic of China (PRC), sometimes
known as Chinese Turkestan, Eastern Turkestan (Turkestan also spelled Turkistan) or Uyghuristan. The capital is Ürümqi. 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 influenced by China
since the Han Dynasty. However, because it is far from eastern China, it has
mostly ruled itself, except for parts of the Han, Tang and Mongol dynasties,
when it was under direct rule. It has also been ruled by the Mongols, Uyghurs, and the pre-Turkic Tocharians. The
Qing Empire controlled the territory since the 18th century, and officially established Xinjiang Province ("new frontier") 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 of the PRC was established on October 1, 1955.
Subdivisions
Xinjiang contains 2 prefecture-level cities, 7
prefectures, 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 (直辖县级行政单位).
| Conventional |
Hanzi |
Pinyin |
Uyghur |
| Prefecture-level cities |
| Ürümqi |
乌鲁木齐市 |
Wūlǔmùqí |
Ürümqi |
| Karamay |
克拉玛依市 |
Kèlāmǎyī |
Ķaramay |
| Directly administered county-level cities |
| Shihanza |
石河子市 |
Shíhézǐ |
Xihənzə |
| Tumshuk? |
图木舒克市 |
Túmùshūkè |
|
| Alar |
阿拉尔市 |
Ālāěr |
|
| Wujiaqu |
五家渠市 |
Wǔjiāqú |
|
| Prefectures |
| Turpan |
吐鲁番地区 |
Tùlǔfān |
Turpan |
| Kumul |
哈密地区 |
Hāmì |
Ķumul |
| Hotan |
和田地区 |
Hétián |
Hotən |
| Aksu |
阿克苏地区 |
Ākèsù |
Aķsu |
| Kashgar |
喀什地区 |
Kāshí |
Ķəxķər |
| Autonomous prefectures |
| Kizilsu? |
克孜勒苏州 |
Kèzīlèsū |
Ķizilsu |
| Bayin'gholin |
巴音郭楞州 |
Bāyìnguōléng |
Bayinƣolin |
| Sanji |
昌吉州 |
Chāngjí |
Sanji |
| Börtala |
博尔塔拉州 |
Bóěrtǎlā |
Bortala |
| Ili |
伊犁州 |
Yīlí |
Ili |
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 the PRC as well). Its highest peak is 8611 metres above
sea level on the border with Kashmir.
Xinjiang has within its borders the point of land remotest from the sea (Lat. 46 degrees 16.8 minutes N, Long. 86 degrees 40.2
minutes E) in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, 1,645
miles (2648 km) from the nearest coastline (straight-line distance).
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.
Neighbors include:
Rivers include: Tarim River
Major Cities:
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 Uyghurs and the Kazakhs. Other PRC minority ethnic groups include Hui Chinese, the
Kirghiz, the Mongols, the Russians, the Xibes, the Tajik, the Uzbek, the Tatars, and the Manchus.
The percentage of ethnic Han Chinese in Xinjiang has grown from 6 percent
in 1949 to over 40 percent at present. Much of this transformation can be attributed to the
Xinjiang Production
and Construction Corps (XPCC), a semi-military organization of settlers that has built farms, towns, and cities over
scattered parts of Xinjiang. The demographic transformation is commonly held as a threat to Uyghurs and other non-Han ethnicities
in maintaining their culture, in a case similar to that of Tibet.
The Uighurs trace descent to both the Turkic Uighurs and the pre-Turkic Indo-European Tocharians (or Tokharians), and fair-skin,
hair and eyes, as well as other so-called 'Caucasoid' physical traits, are not
uncommon among them.
| + Populations of ethnicities in 2000 Census |
| Ethnicity |
Population |
% (approximate) |
| Uyghur |
8,345,622 |
45.21 |
| Han |
7,489,919 |
40.58 |
| Kazakh |
1,245,023 |
6.74 |
| Hui |
839,837 |
4.55 |
| Kirghiz |
158,775 |
0.86 |
| Mongol |
149,857 |
0.81 |
| Dongxiang |
55,841 |
0.30 |
| Tajik |
39,493 |
0.21 |
| Xibe |
34,566 |
0.19 |
| Manchu |
19,493 |
0.11 |
| Tujia |
15,787 |
0.086 |
| Uzbek |
12,096 |
0.066 |
| Russian |
8935 |
0.048 |
| Miao |
7006 |
0.038 |
| Tibetan |
6153 |
0.033 |
| Zhuang |
5642 |
0.031 |
| Daur |
5541 |
0.030 |
| Tatar |
4501 |
0.024 |
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
Main article: List of
East Turkestan-related topics
Professional sports teams in Xinjiang include:
Xinjiang is the home of the Lop Nur testing site for the PRC's nuclear weapons program.
Supporters of Uyghur independence in East Turkestan are active in
Xinjiang.
External links
Pro-PRC links
Pro-Independence links
Cultural links
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