Xinjiang | |
---|---|
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region | |
Name transcription(s) | |
• Chinese | 新疆维吾尔自治区 (Xīnjiāng Wéiwú'ěr Zìzhìqū) |
• Uyghur | شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى (Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni) |
• Abbreviation | XJ / 新 (Xīn) |
Clockwise from top:
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![]() Location of Xinjiang within China | |
Coordinates: 41°N 85°E / 41°N 85°E | |
Country | China |
Capital and largest city | Ürümqi |
Divisions – Prefecture-level – County-level – Township-level | 14 prefectures 95 counties 1142 towns and subdistricts |
Government | |
• Type | Autonomous region |
• Body | Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional People's Congress |
• CCP Secretary | Ma Xingrui |
• Congress Chairwoman | Zumret Obul |
• Government Chairman | Erkin Tuniyaz |
• Regional CPPCC Chairman | Nurlan Abilmazhinuly |
• National People's Congress Representation | 60 deputies |
Area | |
• Total | 1,664,897 km2 (642,820 sq mi) |
• Rank | 1st |
Highest elevation (Mount K2) | 8,611 m (28,251 ft) |
Lowest elevation | −154 m (−505 ft) |
Population (2021)[3] | |
• Total | 25,890,000 |
• Rank | 21st |
• Density | 16/km2 (40/sq mi) |
• Rank | 29th |
Demographics | |
• Ethnic composition (2020 census) | |
• Languages | 44 languages;[5] including the two lingua francas, Chinese and Uyghur[6] |
GDP (2023)[7] | |
• Total | CN¥ 1,913 billion (23th)
US$ 271 billion |
• Per capita | CN¥ 73,774 (16h)
US$ 10,469 |
ISO 3166 code | CN-XJ |
HDI (2021) | 0.738[8] (24th) – high |
Website | www Uyghur version |
Xinjiang,[a] officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,[11][12] is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia. Being the largest province-level division of China by area and the 8th-largest country subdivision in the world, Xinjiang spans over 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 sq mi) and has about 25 million inhabitants.[1][13] Xinjiang borders the countries of Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The rugged Karakoram, Kunlun and Tian Shan mountain ranges occupy much of Xinjiang's borders, as well as its western and southern regions. The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions are claimed by India but administered by China.[14][15][16] Xinjiang also borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. The most well-known route of the historic Silk Road ran through the territory from the east to its northwestern border.
Xinjiang is divided into the Dzungarian Basin (Dzungaria) in the north and the Tarim Basin in the south by a mountain range and only about 9.7 percent of Xinjiang's land area is fit for human habitation.[17][unreliable source?] It is home to a number of ethnic groups, including the Chinese Tajiks (Pamiris), Han Chinese, Hui, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols, Russians, Sibe, Tibetans, and Uyghurs.[18] There are more than a dozen autonomous prefectures and counties for minorities in Xinjiang. Older English-language reference works often refer to the area as Chinese Turkestan,[19][20] Chinese Turkistan,[21] East Turkestan[22] and East Turkistan.[23]
With a documented history of at least 2,500 years, a succession of people and empires have vied for control over all or parts of this territory. The territory came under the rule of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century, which was later replaced by the Republic of China. Since 1949 and the Chinese Civil War, it has been part of the People's Republic of China. In 1954, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) to strengthen border defense against the Soviet Union and promote the local economy by settling soldiers into the region.[24] In 1955, Xinjiang was administratively changed from a province into an autonomous region. In recent decades, abundant oil and mineral reserves have been found in Xinjiang and it is currently China's largest natural-gas-producing region.
From the 1990s to the 2010s, the East Turkestan independence movement, separatist conflict and the influence of radical Islam have resulted in unrest in the region with occasional terrorist attacks and clashes between separatist and government forces.[25][26] These conflicts prompted the Chinese government to commit a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in the province including, according to some, genocide.[27][28]
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In contemporary geographic terminology, Chinese Turkestan refers to Xinjiang (Sinkiang), the Uighur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.
For most of their history, the Uyghurs lived as tribes in a loosely affiliated nation on the northern Chinese border (sometimes called East Turkestan).
The general boundaries of East Turkistan are the Altai range on the northeast, Mongolia on the east, the Kansu corridor or the Su-lo-ho basin on the southeast, the K'un-lun system on the south, the Sarygol and Muztay-ata on the west, the main range of the T'ien-shan system on the north to the approximate longitude of Aqsu (80 deg. E), then generally northeast to the Altai system which the boundary joins in the vicinity of the Khrebët Nalinsk and Khrebët Sailjuginsk.
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