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'Kumul' or 'Hami' (Uyghur: ; Chinese: 哈密; Pinyin: Hāmì) is an oasis in Hami Prefecture, Xinjiang (China); it is also the name of a modern city and the surrounding district. It is well known in China as the home of the famously sweet Hami melons.

Contents

Geography and climate

Names

Population

External links

Geography and climate

Like Turpan, is in a fault depression about 200 metres below sea level, and temperatures are extreme, from a high of 43°C in summer to a low of -32°C in winter.

Names

The city is known in Uyghur as '' or ''. The Portuguese Jesuit Benedict Goës and Matteo Ricci in 1615 recorded its name as "Camul". One of the oldest attested Chinese names is ''Kūnmò'' 昆莫; in Han-dynasty documents it was referred to as ''Yīwú'' 伊吾 or ''Yīwúlú'' 伊吾卢, in the Tang dynasty as ''Yīzhōu'' 伊州; in the Yuan dynasty the Mongolian name for the place, ''Qamil'', was transcribed into Chinese as ''Hāmìlì'' 哈密力 and from the Ming dynasty was known as ''Hāmì'' 哈密.

Population

In 2002, had a population of about 519,700, 68.4% Han and 31.6% ethnic minorities, mostly Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Hui.

External links

★ hmnet.gov.cn Chinese government site on (in Chinese)

★ hami.gov.cn Chinese government site on (in Chinese)