Altay Prefecture

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Altay Prefecture 阿勒泰地区 (Chinese) التاي ايماعى (Kazakh) ئالتاي ۋىلايىتى (Uyghur)
Prefecture
Black Irtysh river in Burqin County
Altay Prefecture (red) in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture (light red) and Xinjiang (orange)
Coordinates (Altay City): 47°50′N 88°08′E / 47.83°N 88.13°E / 47.83; 88.13
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Xinjiang
Sub-provincial	Ili Prefecture
Seat	Altay City
Area
• Prefecture	117,710 km2 (45,450 sq mi)
• Metro	10,826 km2 (4,180 sq mi)
Population  (2020 census)
• Prefecture	648,173
• Density	5.5/km2 (14/sq mi)
• Metro	221,454
• Metro density	20/km2 (53/sq mi)
GDP[1]
• Prefecture	CN¥ 33.9 billion US$ 4.9 billion
• Per capita	CN¥ 51,524 US$ 7,469
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
ISO 3166 code	CN-XJ-43
Website	Altay Prefecture Government

Altay Prefecture is located in Northern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of 118,015 km² (45,566 sq mi) and a population of 561,667 (2000). It is a part of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. As of the 2000 census, Altay was the only major subdivision of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture with an ethnic Kazakh majority (about 51%). In 2007, it had a GDP of RMB 9.9 billion with a 12% growth rate. It also shares an international border with the neighboring Altai Republic, located within Russia.

Altay is considered the birthplace of skiing, based on 10,000 to 30,000 year old cave paintings depicting skiers.^[2][3]