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'Urumchi' or 'Ürümqi' (English ; Uyghur: ئۈرۈمچی; Uyghur Latin script: Ürümqi; ), with a population of about 2.1 million, is the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country.

Contents

History of the city

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Administrative divisions

Economy

Media

Transportation

See also

History of the city

Two thousand years ago Urumqi was an important town on the northern route of the Silk Road, a vast network of trade routes that also facilitated cultural exchanges throughout Eurasia. During the 22nd year of Emperor Zhenguan's reign in the Tang Dynasty, 648 A.D., the Tang government set up the town of Luntai in the ancient town seat of Urabo, 10 kilometers from the southern suburb of present-day Urumqi. The Ancient Luntai Town was a seat of local government, and collected taxes from the caravans along the northern route of the Silk Road. During the Qing Dynasty (1763 A.D.) Emperor Qianlong named the expanded town of Luntai "Dihua" (pinyin: Díhuà; Manchu: ''Wen de dahabure fu''), meaning "to enlighten." In 1884, Emperor Guang Xu established Xinjiang as a Province, with Di Hua as its capital. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China, on February 1, 1954, the city was renamed Ürümqi, meaning " beautiful pasture" in the Mongolian language of the Junggar tribe.
Urumqi has one county and seven districts (Urumqi county, Tianshan District, Sharyibark District, Toutunhe District, Shuimogou District, Xinshi District, Dongshan District, and Nanshan Mine District) under its jurisdiction.

Geography

Located in a green oasis between the lofty ice-capped Bogda Peak, the vast Salt Lake in the east, the rolling pine-covered Southern hill and the alternating fields and sand dunes of Zunggar Basin in the northwest, Ürümqi has an average elevation of 800 meters. The largest city in the western half of China, Ürümqi has won a place in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as the most remote city from any sea in the world at a distance of about 1,400 miles (2500 km) from the nearest coastline (Ürümqi being the city closest to the Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility). The city has an area of 10,989 km².

Climate

In Ürümqi a continental steppe climate with hot and dry summers prevails with average temperatures in July at 24°C (75°F) as well as damp and cold winters with average temperatures in January at -16°C (3°F). The annual average temperature amounts to 5.4°C (41.7°F), and the yearly precipitation is about 273 mm.

Demographics

According to the 2000 census, Ürümqi has 2,081,834 inhabitants with a population density of 174.53 inhabitants/km². Of these, 75.3% are Han Chinese, 12.8% are Uyghurs, 8.0% are Hui and 2.3% are Kazakhs

Administrative divisions

Urumqi currently comprises 8 administrative sub-divisions, county-level units, of these, 7 are districts and 1 is a county.
The areas of the city are divided into 7 districts and 1 county:

★ Tianshan District (天山区: Tiānshān Qū)

★ Saybagh District (沙依巴克区: Shāyībākè Qū)

★ Toutunhe District (头屯河区: Tóutúnhé Qū)

★ Shuimogou District (水磨沟区: Shuǐmógōu Qū)

★ Xinshi District (新市区: Xīnshì Qū)

★ Dongshan District (东山区: Dōngshān Qū)

★ Dabancheng District (达坂城区: Dábǎnchéng Qū)

★ Ürümqi County (乌鲁木齐县: Wūlǔmùqí Xiàn)

Economy

Urumqi is a major industrial center within Xinjiang. Urumqi, together with Karamay and Bayin'gholin account for 64.5% of the total industrial output of Xinjiang. Urumqi is also the largest consumer center in the region, recording ¥19.1 billion retail sales of consumer goods in 2004, accounting for 33.9% of the region's total retail value. The GDP per capita was ¥22,820 (ca. US$2,850) in 2004 [1]. Urumqi has been a central developmental target for the "Develop the West" project that the Central Government is pursuing.

Media

The Xinjiang Networking Transmission Limited operates the Urumqi People Broadcasting Station and the Xinjiang People Broadcasting Station, broadcasting in the Mandarin, Uyghur, Kazakh, Mongolian, Russian and the Kyrgyz languages.

Transportation

Air: Ürümqi is served by the Urumqi Diwopu International Airport.
Rail:

★ A railway line connects the city to Kashgar (southwest)

★ Ürümqi is also on the Beijing-Almaty (Kazakhstan) railway line.
Road: Ürümqi is located along the China National Highway 312 and China National Highway 314.

See also

★ Xinjiang Flying Tigers

★ List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population