General Introduction of Xinjiang

Xinjiang (Uyghur: شىنجاڭ (Xinjang); Chinese: 新疆; Pinyin: Xīnjiāng; Wade-Giles: Hsin¹-chiang¹; 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.

Historic names

Once part of Western Regions, later, East Turkestan.

Subdivisions

Main article: List of administrative divisions of Xinjiang

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 (kona yezik̡)	Uyghur Latin (yengi yezik̡)	Hanzi	Pinyin	Remarks
Prefecture-level cities
Ürümqi	ئۈرۈمچى شەھرى	Ürümqi Xəh̡ri	乌鲁木齐市	Wūlǔmùqí Shì
Karamay	قاراماي شەھرى	K̡aramay Xəh̡ri	克拉玛依市	Kèlāmǎyī Shì
Directly administered county-level cities
Shihezi	شىخەنزە شەھرى	Xihənzə Xəh̡ri	石河子市	Shíhézǐ Shì	Administered de facto by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
Tumxuk	تۇمشۇق شەھرى	Tumxuk̡ Xəh̡ri	图木舒克市	Túmùshūkè Shì
Aral	ئارال شەھرى	Aral Xəh̡ri	阿拉尔市	Ālā'ěr Shì
Wujiaqu	ئۇجاچۇ شەھرى	Wujiaqü Xəh̡ri	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	Ak̡su Vilayiti	阿克苏地区	Ākèsū Dìqū
Kashgar Prefecture	قەشقەر ۋىلايىتى	K̡əxk̡ər Vilayiti	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	K̡izilsu K̡irƣiz Aptonom Oblasti	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	Ili K̡azak̡ Aptonom Oblasti	伊犁哈萨克自治州	Yīlí Hāsàkè Zìzhìzhōu

Geography,geology,Economy and Demographics

History of Xijiang