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Xinjiang

font size="+1">شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى
Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni
新疆维吾尔自治区
Xīnjiāng Wiw'ěr Zzhqū
align="center" colspan=2 style="border-bottom:3px solid gray;" | Abbreviation: 疆 (pinyin: Jiāng)
align="center" colspan=2 | Xinjiang is highlighted on this map
width=50% | Origin of Name 新 xīn - new
疆 jiāng - frontier
"new frontier"
Administration Type Autonomous region
Capital and
Largest City
Urumqi
CPC Xinjiang Committee Secretary Wang Lequan
Chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi
Area 1,660,000 km² (1st)
Population (2002)
 - Density
19,050,000 (24th)
11.5/km² (29th)
GDP (2002)
 - per capita
159.8 billion Renminbi (25th)
8390 Renminbi (12th)
Major Nationalities (2000) Uyghur - 45%
Han - 41%
Kazakh - 7%
Hui - 5%
Kirghiz - 0.9%
Mongol - 0.8%
Dongxiang - 0.3%
Tajik - 0.2%
Prefecture-level divisions 14
County-level divisions 99
Township-level divisions 1005
ISO 3166-2 CN-65
Xinjiang (; Postal Pinyin: Sinkiang; literal meaning: "New Frontier"; Uyghur: ) 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 rmqi. 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
olspan=4 | Prefecture-level cities
rmqi 乌鲁木齐市 Wūlǔmq rmqi
Karamay 克拉玛依市 Klāmǎyī Ķaramay
olspan=4 | Directly administered county-level cities
Shihanza 石河子市 Shhzǐ Xihənzə
Tumshuk? 图木舒克市 Tmshūk
Alar 阿拉尔市 Ālāěr
Wujiaqu 五家渠市 Wǔjiāq
olspan=5 | Prefectures
Turpan 吐鲁番地区 Tlǔfān Turpan
Kumul 哈密地区 Hām Ķumul
Hotan 和田地区 Htin Hotən
Aksu 阿克苏地区 Āks Aķsu
Kashgar 喀什地区 Kāsh Ķəxķər
olspan=4 | Autonomous prefectures
Kizilsu? 克孜勒苏州 Kzīlsū Ķizilsu
ayin'gholin 巴音郭楞州 Bāynguōlng Bayinƣolin
Sanji 昌吉州 Chāngj Sanji
Brtala 博尔塔拉州 Běrtǎlā Bortala
Ili 伊犁州 Yīl 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
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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 Xinjiang-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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