Niya County ( transliterated from the Uyghur ; zh, s=尼雅县), also from

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

as Minfeng County ( zh, s=民丰县), is a county within 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

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 ...

. It contains an area of . According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 30,000. The county is bordered to the north by

Xayar County Xayar County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shayar County or, from Mandarin Chinese, Shaya, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Aqsu Prefecture. It contains an ...

, to the east by Qiemo/Qarqan County, to the west by Yutian / Keriya County and to the south by

Ngari Prefecture Ngari Prefecture () or Ali Prefecture ( zh, s=阿里地区 , t=阿里地區 , p=Ālǐ Dìqū) is a prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region covering Western Tibet, whose traditional name is Ngari Khorsum. Its administrative centre and large ...

in Tibet. The county seat is in the town of Niya, which is often referred to by the county name (Minfeng) as well. The

Niya ruins The Niya ruins (), is an archaeological site located about north of modern Niya Town on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in modern-day Xinjiang, China. The ancient site was known in its native language as Caḍ́ota, and in Chinese during t ...

are located 115 km north of Niya.

History

In the early 20th century,

Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...

carried out several expeditions in the area including exploration of the ancient

. In 1945, Minfeng '' Shezhiju'' () was established. In 1947, the area became Minfeng County. In 2012, the township of Yawatongguz (Yawatongguzi) was established. In early 2015, a joint report issued by the Water Conservancy Office of Hotan prefecture and the regional Water Conservancy Department reported that up to 80 percent of the population of the county did not have access to clean drinking water. In June 2015 in the lead-up to

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

, a beer festival was held in the county leading to condemnation from Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the

World Uyghur Congress The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is a international organization of exiled Uyghur groups that claims to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's ...

. In September 2015, residents of the county were reported to be subject to new rules concerning unacceptable given names for Uyghur children. On December 8, 2019, County Communist Party Committee Vice Secretary () and County Magistrate () Ëziz Eli () penned a criticism of the

Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (S. 3744) is a United States federal law that requires various United States government bodies to report on human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government against U ...

Geography

The northern part of the county is located 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 consists of large areas of sand

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s. The population centers on oases around rivers flowing down from the mountains in the southern part of the county.

Climate

, on average, Minfeng experienced blowing dust or sand on 189 days in a year and visibility below 4,800 meters for more than half of winter and summer as well as for thirty to forty percent of spring. The lowest spring time temperature recorded in Minfeng was -22 °C.

Administrative divisions

The county includes one

town 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 six

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Economy

The economy is primarily based on agriculture and livestock farming. Products of the county include corn, wheat, cotton and sheep wool. Industries in the county include electronics, agriculture technology, food processing, carpets and construction.

Demographics

As of 2015, Out of the 38,492 residents, 34,900 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 ...

, 3,509 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 83 were from other ethnic groups. As of 1999, 90.94% of the population of Niya (Minfeng) County was Uyghur and 8.91% of the population was Han Chinese.

Transportation

China National Highway 315 Constructed in 1954, the Qinghai-Xinjiang Highway, also known as the China National Highway 315 (G315) runs west from Xining, Qinghai towards Kashgar, Xinjiang. It is in length. In 1994 the departments of communication and transportation in Qing ...

Tarim Desert Highway 200px, Vegetation on either side of the highway to prevent shifting sand dunes from covering it, as well as a blue pump house in the distance. 200px, PetroChina gas station on the highway route The Tarim Desert Highway (), also known as the Cross ...

* Minfeng railway station serving Hotan–Ruoqiang railway

Gallery

File:New Mosque - Minfeng.jpg, New Mosque - Minfeng. File:Ruins of desert Cathay - personal narrative of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China (1912) (14596524608).jpg, Niya men (1912) File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-44-3rd-ed.jpg, Map including Minfeng (labeled as MIN-FENG (NIYA BAZAR)) and surrounding region in 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 ...

( ATC, 1971) File:NJ-44-12 Takla Makan Desert.jpg, Map including Niya (labeled as MIN-FENG (NI-YA)) ( ATC, 1971) File:Txu-oclc-6654394-ni-45-4th-ed.jpg, Map including the southern part of Minfeng/Niya County and the county's border with Tibet (

DMA DMA may refer to: Arts * ''DMA'' (magazine), a defunct dance music magazine * Dallas Museum of Art, in Texas, US * BT Digital Music Awards, an annual event in the UK * Danish Music Awards * Detroit Music Awards * Doctor of musical arts, a degree ...

, 1975) File:NJ-44-16 Kola China.jpg, Map including part of Niya (Minfeng) County (

, 1979) File:Operational Navigation Chart G-7, 6th edition.jpg, Map including Minfeng (labeled as Minfeng (Min-feng)) and surrounding region (

, 1980) File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 g-7b.jpg, Map including Niya (labeled as Minfeng) (DMA, 1990)

Notes

References

External links

《农广天地》昆仑山下鸡羊鲜 20190218 , CCTV农业
{{Authority control County-level divisions of Xinjiang Hotan Prefecture