Kargilik County (), also known as Yecheng County ( zh, s=叶城县), is a county in southwest of the

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC: previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads ...

and is under the administration of the

Kashgar Prefecture Kashgar, also known as Kashi, is a prefecture located in southwestern Xinjiang, China, located in the Tarim Basin region (roughly the southern half of Xinjiang). It has an area of and 4,496,377 inhabitants at the 2020 census with a population d ...

. It contains an area of 28,600 km². To the north, the county borders Makit County. To the east, the county borders Guma County (Pishan) in

Hotan Prefecture Hotan PrefectureThe official spelling is "Hotan" according to (see also #Etymology, § Etymology) is located in the Tarim Basin region of southwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Xinjiang, China, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region to t ...

. To the west, the county borders Yarkant County, Poskam County and

Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County (often shortened to Tashkurgan County and officially spelled Taxkorgan) is an autonomous county of Kashgar Prefecture, in western Xinjiang, China. The county seat is Tashkurgan. The county is the only Tajik ...

. In the south, the county has a border of more than with

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

administered areas of Kashmir.

History

In 1975, future

Chinese Communist Party Deputy Committee Secretary In modern politics of China, Chinese politics, a Deputy Party Committee Secretary (; also translated as Deputy Party Secretary, deputy party chief, vice party chief) serves as the lieutenant to the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary, ...

of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Zhu Hailun was sent to Kargilik County in the

Down to the Countryside Movement The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the China, People's Republic of China between the mid-1950s and 1978. As a result of what he p ...

Geography

The northern part of the county is in the

Taklamakan Desert The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a desert in northwest China's Xinjiang region. Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang, it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the ...

and the southern part of the county is in the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...

Mazar Pass Mazar Pass (), also called Sailyak Pass() is a long mountain pass with numerous hairpin turns along China National Highway 219 (G219), the highway connecting Xinjiang and Tibet. The mountain pass crosses the Kunlun Mountains. It is between the ...

is located in the southern part of the county.

Climate

Administrative divisions

Kargilik County contains 6

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 15 townships.

Economy

Kargilik County's economy is based on agriculture and animal husbandry. Agricultural products include wheat, corn and cotton, as well as pomegranates, yellow pears, walnuts, and dried apricots. Industries include construction, machinery, electronics, and food processing. The county is known for the 'Kargilik Banximao Sheep' ().

Demographics

In 1997,

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 ...

made up 93% of the population of the county and

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 ...

made up 6% of the population. As of 2015, 490,417 of the 519,962 residents of the county were

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

, 23,408 were

and 6,137 were from other ethnic groups. , Uyghurs made up 91% of the population of the county. As of 1999, 90.78% of the population of Kargilik (Yecheng) County was Uyghur and 8.18% of the population was Han Chinese.

Transportation

China National Highway 219 China National Highway 219 (G219; Chinese language, Chinese: ''Guódào219'') is a highway which runs along the entire western and southern border of the People's Republic of China, from Kom-Kanas Mongolian Ethnic Township, Kom-Kanas Mongolian et ...

* China National Highway 315 * Kashgar–Hotan railway

Historical maps

Historical English-language maps including Kargilik: File:STANFORD(1917) p61 PLATE19. SINKIANG (14597194848).jpg, Map including Kargilik (labeled as Kargalik) (1917) File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-43-5th-ed.jpg, Map including Kargilik (labeled as YEH-CH'ENG (KARGHALIK)) and surrounding region from the

International Map of the World The International Map of the World (IMW; also the Millionth Map of the World, after its scale of 1:1000000) was a project to create a complete map of the world according to internationally agreed standards. It was first proposed by the German g ...

(

AMS AMS or Ams may refer to: Organizations Companies * Alenia Marconi Systems * American Management Systems * AMS (Advanced Music Systems) * ams AG, semiconductor manufacturer * AMS Pictures * Auxiliary Medical Services Educational institutions ...

, 1966) File:NJ-43-12 Yeh-ch'eng, China.jpg, Map including Kargilik (labeled as Yeh-ch'eng (Karghalik)) ( ACIC, 1969) File:Operational Navigation Chart G-7, 6th edition.jpg, From the Operational Navigation Chart; map including Kargilik (labeled as YECHENG (YEH-CH'ENG)) ( DMA, 1980) File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 g-7a.jpg, Map including Kargilik (labeled as YECHENG (YEH-CH'ENG)) ( DMA, 1984) File:Kashmir region 2004.jpg, The southern part of Kargilik County includes territory ceded to China by Pakistan but claimed by India

Notes

References

{{Authority control County-level divisions of Xinjiang Kashgar Prefecture