'Xinjiang' (
Uyghur: (Xinjang); ;
Postal map spelling: 'Sinkiang') is an
autonomous region of the
People's Republic of China. It is a large, sparsely populated area which takes up about one sixth of the country's territory. Xinjiang borders the
Tibet Autonomous Region to the south and
Qinghai and
Gansu provinces to the southeast,
Mongolia to the east,
Russia to the north, and
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Afghanistan, and the
Pakistan- and
India-controlled parts of
Kashmir to the west. It administers most of
Aksai Chin, a region claimed by
India as part of
Jammu and Kashmir.
"Xinjiang" or "Ice Jecen" in
Manchu, literally means "New Frontier", a name given during the
Manchu Qing Dynasty in China. It is home to a number of
Turkic ethnic groups, the largest of which are the
Uyghurs. The region is often referred to as 'Chinese Turkestan' or '
East Turkestan'.
History
Historic names
Once part of
Western Regions, later,
East Turkestan.
Subdivisions
Xinjiang is divided into two
prefecture-level cities, seven
prefectures, and five autonomous prefectures. (Two of the seven prefectures are in turn part of Ili, an autonomous prefecture.) These are then divided into eleven districts, twenty county-level cities, sixty-two counties, and six autonomous counties. Four of the county-level cities do not belong to any prefecture, and are ''de facto'' administered by the
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
Geography and geology
Xinjiang is the largest
political subdivision of China - it accounts for more than one sixth of China's total territory and a quarter of its boundary length. It 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 the
Turfan Depression, 155 metres below sea level (lowest point in the
PRC as well). Its highest peak,
K2, is
8611 metres above sea level, on the border with
Kashmir.
Close to Karakoram Highway in Xinjiang
Most of Xinjiang is young geologically, having been formed from the collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate, forming the
Tian Shan,
Kunlun Shan, and
Pamir mountain ranges. Consequently, Xinjiang is a major
earthquake zone. Older geological formations occur principally in the far north where the
Junggar Block is geologically part of
Kazakhstan, and in the east which is part of the
North China Craton.
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
Tian Shan mountain range marks the Xinjiang-Kyrgyzstan border at the
Torugart Pass (3752 m). The
Karakorum highway (KKH) links
Islamabad,
Pakistan with
Kashgar over the
Khunjerab Pass.
The
Eurasian pole of inaccessibility, the point on land farthest from any ocean, is located approximately 320 km (200 mi) from the city of
Urumqi, within the boundary of Xinjiang.
Rivers include:
★
Tarim River
Major Cities:
★
Urumqi
★
Turpan
★
Kashgar
★
Karamay
★
Yining
★
Shihezi
★
Qinggir
Economy
A panoramic view of
Urumqi's city center taken from Red Mountain (Hong Shan).
Xinjiang is known for its fruits and produce, including
grapes,
melons,
pears,
cotton,
wheat,
silk,
walnuts and
sheep. Xinjiang also has large deposits of minerals and
oil.
Xinjiang's nominal
GDP was approximately 187 billion
RMB (about 23 billion USD) in 2003, and increased to 220 billion RMB (about 28 billion USD) in 2004, due to the
China Western Development policy introduced by the State Council to boost economic development in Western China. Its per capita GDP for 2003 was 9,710 RMB (1172 USD).
Oil and
gas extraction industry in
Aksu and
Karamay is booming, with the
West-East Gas Pipeline connecting to
Shanghai.
Xinjiang's exports amounted to 3.047 billion
USD, while import turned out to be 2.589 billion USD in 2004. Most of the overall import/export volume in Xinjiang was directed to and from
Kazakhstan through Ala Pass
[1]. China's first border free trade zone (Horgos Free Trade Zone) was located at the Xinjiang-Kazakhstan border city of Horgos
[2]. Horgos is the largest land port in China's western region and it has easy access to the Central Asian market. Xinjiang will also open its second border trade market to Kazakhstan in March 2006, the Jeminay Border Trade Zone.
[3]
Demographics
The languages of Xinjang.
Xinjiang is home to several
Muslim Turkic groups including the
Uyghurs and the
Kazakhs. Other PRC minority
ethnic groups include
Hui Chinese, the
Kyrgyz, 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 an official tally of over 40 percent at present. This figure does not include military personnel or their families, or the many unregistered migrant workers. 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 held by Uyghur independence advocates as a threat to Uyghurs and other non-Han ethnicities in maintaining their culture, similar to the case of
Tibet. While at the same time, the minorities of Xinjiang were exempted from the
One-Child Policy and many
Uyghur people emigrated out of Xinjiang to other parts of China, the percentage of
Uyghur people in the total population of China has increased steadily.
| Ethnic groups in Xinjiang, 2000 census |
|---|
| Nationality | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Tuvans | 3260 | |
| Salar | 3762 | 0.020 |
Excludes members of the
People's Liberation Army in active service.
Source: Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家民族事务委员会经济发展司), eds. ''Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China'' (《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)
Map of Xinjiang indicating leading nationality in each prefecture-level division.
In general,
Uyghurs are the majority in western Xinjiang, including the prefectures of
Kashgar,
Khotan,
Kizilsu, and
Aksu, as well as
Turpan prefecture in eastern Xinjiang.
Han Chinese are the majority in eastern and northern Xinjiang, including the cities of
Urumqi,
Karamay,
Shihezi and the prefectures of
Changji,
Bortala,
Bayin'gholin,
Ili (especially the city of
Kuitun), and
Kumul.
Kazakhs are mostly concentrated in
Ili prefecture in northern Xinjiang.
1—Ili AP is composed of Kuitun DACLC, Tacheng Prefecture, Aletai Prefecture, as well as former Ili Prefecture. Ili Prefecture has been disbanded and its former area is now directly administered by Ili AP.
Source: 2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料，民族出版社，2003/9 (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)
Does not include members of the
People's Liberation Army in active service.
P = Prefecture; AP = Autonomous prefecture; PLC = Prefecture-level city; DACLC = Directly-administered county-level city
Some Uighur scholars claim descent from both the Turkic Uighurs and the pre-Turkic
Tocharians (or Tokharians, whose language was
Indo-European), and relatively fair-skin, hair and eyes, as well as other so-called '
Caucasoid' physical traits, are not uncommon among them. In general Uyghurs resemble those peoples who live around them in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.
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.
HIV/AIDS
With a population of about 20 million and an officially estimated 60,000 infections, Xinjiang has one-tenth of China’s
AIDS cases and the highest
HIV infection rate in the country. Chinese authorities estimate that
Kashgar Prefecture, with a population of about three million, has 780 cases, but public health experts here say the real figure is probably four times that and rising fast.
Until recently, addicts were largely left to the police, who regarded them as simple criminals whose drug use was to be combated mercilessly. Resistance to treating drug addiction as a public health concern has been high, mirroring what some international health experts say was, more generally, a slow response to
HIV/AIDS in China[ AIDS China, Avert.].
Media
The
Xinjiang Networking Transmission Limited operates the
Urumqi People Broadcasting Station and the
Xinjiang People Broadcasting Station, broadcasting in the
Mandarin (
dialect),
Uyghur (
dialect),
Kazak and
Mongolian.
Sports
Professional sports teams in Xinjiang include:
★
Chinese Basketball Association
★
★
Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers
See also
★
Battle of Jushi
★
East Turkestan independence movement
★
Gaochang
★
Jiaohe Ruins
Notes
1. ''Zhōngguó dìmínglù'' 中国地名录 (Beijing, ''Zhōngguó dìtú chūbǎnshè'' 中国地图出版社 1997); ISBN 7-5031-1718-4.
External links
Official sites
★
中国新疆政府网 Xinjiang Government
Maps
★
Large map of Xinjiang
★
Map of XUAR, shows main cities and subdivisions
Travel info
★
Culture, history, photos
★
The Opposite End of China (Xinjiang Blog)
★
Uyghur site
★
Uyghur Culture and History
★
[4]
★
Photo gallery from CBC.ca Accessed December 14, 2006
Catalogues
★
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