XINJIANG

'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'.

Contents

History

Historic names

Subdivisions

Geography and geology

Economy

Demographics

HIV/AIDS

Media

Sports

See also

Notes

External links

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.

Conventional[1]	Uyghur ()	Uyghur Latin ()	Hanzi	Pinyin	Remarks
''Prefecture-level cities''
Ürümqi	ئۈرۈمچى شەھرى		乌鲁木齐市	Wūlǔmùqí Shì
Karamay	قاراماي شەھرى		克拉玛依市	Kèlāmǎyī Shì
''Directly administered county-level cities''
Shihezi	شىخەنزە شەھرى		石河子市	Shíhézǐ Shì	Administered ''de facto'' by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
Tumxuk	تۇمشۇق شەھرى		图木舒克市	Túmùshūkè Shì
Aral	ئارال شەھرى		阿拉尔市	Ālā'ěr Shì
Wujiaqu	ئۇجاچۇ شەھرى		五家渠市	Wǔjiāqú Shì
''Prefectures''
Turpan Prefecture	تۇرپان ۋىلايىتى	Turpan Vilayiti	吐鲁番地区	Tǔlǔfān Dìqū
Kumul Prefecture	قۇمۇل ۋىلايىتى	K̡umul Vilayiti	哈密地区	Hāmì Dìqū
Hotan Prefecture	خوتەن ۋىلايىتى	Hotən Vilayiti	和田地区	Hétián Dìqū
Aksu Prefecture	ئاقسۇ ۋىلايىتى		阿克苏地区	Ākèsū Dìqū
Kashgar Prefecture	قەشقەر ۋىلايىتى		喀什地区	Kāshí Dìqū
Tacheng Prefecture	تارباغاتاي ۋىلايىتى	Tarbaƣatay Vilayiti	塔城地区	Tǎchéng Dìqū	subordinate to Ili Prefecture
Altay Prefecture	ئالتاي ۋىلايىتى	Altay Vilayiti	阿勒泰地区	Ālètài Dìqū
''Autonomous prefectures''
Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture	قىزىلسۇ قىرغىز ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى		克孜勒苏柯尔克孜自治州	Kèzīlèsū Kē'ěrkèzī Zìzhìzhōu
Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture	بايىنغولىن موڭغۇل ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى	Bayinƣolin Mongƣol Aptonom Oblasti	巴音郭楞蒙古自治州	Bāyīnguōlèng Měnggǔ Zìzhìzhōu
Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture	سانجى خۇيزۇ ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى	Sanji Huizu Aptonom Oblasti	昌吉回族自治州	Chāngjí Huízú Zìzhìzhōu
Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture	بۆرتالا موڭغۇل ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى	Bɵrtala Mongƣol Aptonom Oblasti	博尔塔拉蒙古自治州	Bó'ěrtǎlā Měnggǔ Zìzhìzhōu
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture	ئىلى قازاق ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى		伊犁哈萨克自治州	Yīlí Hāsàkè Zìzhìzhōu

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.

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

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

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)

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.

Major ethnic groups in Xinjiang by region, 2000 census
	Uyghurs	Han Chinese	Kazakhs	others
'Xinjiang'	'45.2%'	'40.6%'	'6.7%'	'7.5%'
Ürümqi PLC	12.8%	'75.3%'	2.3%	9.6%
Karamay PLC	13.8%	'78.1%'	3.7%	4.5%
Turpan Prefecture	'70.0%'	23.3%	<0.1%	6.6%
Kumul Prefecture	18.4%	'68.9%'	8.8%	3.9%
Changji AP + Wujiaqu DACLC	3.9%	'75.1%'	8.0%	13.0%
Bortala AP	12.5%	'67.2%'	9.1%	11.1%
Bayin'gholin AP	32.7%	'57.5%'	<0.1%	9.7%
Aksu Prefecture + Alar DACLC	'71.9%'	26.6%	<0.1%	1.4%
Kizilsu AP	'64.0%'	6.4%	<0.1%	29.6%
Kashgar Prefecture + Tumushuke DACLC	'89.3%'	9.2%	<0.1%	1.5%
Khotan Prefecture	'96.4%'	3.3%	<0.1%	0.2%
Ili AP1	16.1%	44.4%	25.6%	13.9%
- ''Kuitun DACLC''	0.5%	'94.6%'	1.8%	3.1%
- ''former Ili Prefecture''	27.2%	32.4%	22.6%	17.8%
- ''Tacheng Prefecture''	4.1%	'58.6%'	24.2%	13.1%
- ''Altay Prefecture''	1.8%	40.9%	'51.4%'	5.9%
Shihezi DACLC	1.2%	'94.5%'	0.6%	3.7%

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

★ Dmoz