Baicheng County
( zh, c=拜城县) as the official romanized name, also
transliterated from Uyghur as Bay County
(pronounced like 'bye', , ;
[, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency] zh, s=拜县), is a county in
Aksu Prefecture
Aksu PrefectureThe official spelling according to is located in mid-Western Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and 2.714 million inhabitants at the 2020 census whom 715,319 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of Aksu urban district. T ...
of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
History
In 1882, the county was established.
On 6 November 1997, a member of a Xinjiang separatist group, Muhammat Tursun, fatally shot imam Yunus Sidiq Damolla at his mosque in Baicheng County.
According to a report from ''
Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...
'', on February 17, 2015, seventeen Uyghurs (four policemen, nine attackers and four bystanders) were killed after a stabbing incident from a police station in the county.
On September 18, 2015, a group of terrorists, suspected to be
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...
, attacked workers and security guards at the Sogan Colliery in Terek, leaving at up to 50 dead and 50 wounded. A manhunt for the suspects concluded on November 13, with 28 suspects killed and 1 surrendering. In interview with ''Radio Free Asia'', county police officers confirmed that women and children were among those killed in November.
On December 5, 2019 at around 10:46 a.m., a 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck the county (epicenter: ).
Geography
The county is located in the northern part of the prefecture, occupying the valley of the
Muzart River between the southern slopes of the
Tengritagh and the Qoltagh ( zh, labels=no , s=却勒塔格山 , p=Quèlètǎgé Shān).
Climate
Administrative divisions
Baicheng County administered 4
towns
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
and 10
townships
Economy
The county's economy is based on agriculture and produces
rapeseed
Rapeseed (''Brassica napus'' subsp. ''napus''), also known as rape and oilseed rape and canola, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturall ...
in abundance. Animal husbandry is also common. Mineral resources are rich. Industries include coal, iron, electronics, fertilizer, tractors, vegetable oil extraction, etc. The
Tianshan Mountains have lush spruce forests.
, there was about 67,500 acres (445,577 ''
mu'') of cultivated land in Bay.
Demographics
As of 2015, 212,272 of the 241,079 residents of the county were
Uyghur, 26,559 were
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...
and 2,248 were from other ethnic groups.
As of 1999, 87.03% of the population of the county were Uyghur and 12.08% of the population was Han Chinese.
Transportation
*
China National Highway 217
Historical maps
Historical English-language maps including the county:
File:A-k`o-su NK-44 (1950) - panoramio.jpg, Map including the county (labeled as PAI-CH'ENG (BAI)) and surrounding region from the International Map of the World ( AMS, 1950)
File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 f-6c.jpg, Map including the county (labeled as BAICHENG) ( DMA, 1981)
File:Operational Navigation Chart F-6, 6th edition.jpg, From the Operational Navigation Chart; map including the county (labeled as Pai-ch'eng (Bay)) ( DMA, 1985)
Notes
References
External links
County Government
{{authority control
County-level divisions of Xinjiang
Aksu Prefecture