Ruoqiang County

Ruoqiang County ( zh, s= ) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Qakilik County (; zh, links=no , s=卡克里克县), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China under the administration of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. It covers an area of (about twice the size of Zhejiang province and similar to Kyrgyzstan or Senegal), making it the largest county-level division in the country.

The county seat is in Ruoqiang Town. This is the location which less-detailed maps will label as "Ruoqiang". It lies at an altitude of .

History

The ancient settlement of Charklik was located in what is today Ruoqiang County.

The Charkhlik Revolt took place here in 1935 when Uyghurs revolted against the Hui-dominated Tunganistan, which was controlled by the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army). The Uyghurs were defeated.

The county was established in 1902 as (''Ruòqiāng'', "recalcitrant Qiang"). In 1959, the less-offensive written form of "若羌" ("like the Qiang") was adopted.若羌县历史沿革
Xzqh.org. Accessed 2011-05-27 The Uyghur name of the county, "Çakilik", is transliterated in Chinese as "" (''Qiǎkèlǐkè'').

On July 24, 2015, Tieganlike was changed from a township to a town.

Geography

Ruoqiang County ranges in latitude from 36° 00' to 41° 23' N and in longitude from 86° 45 to 93° 45' E. It borders Qiemo County to the west, Yuli County, Piqan County, and Kumul to the north, the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai to the east, and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south.

The populated areas are located mostly along the northern foothills of the Altyn-Tagh mountain range. North of this strip of irrigated agricultural settlement is the Taklamakan Desert, south, the Altyn-Tagh and Kunlun Mountains.

The well known Lop Lake, these days usually dry, is located in the northeastern part of the county - the section officially known as Luobu Po Town (), i.e., Lop Lake Town.

The southern part of the county (administratively, Qimantag Township ()), is mountainous. The highest point in Qinghai, Bukadaban Feng, is located on the border of Qinghai and Ruoqiang County. The high plateau between the Altyn-Tagh and the main Kunlun range (which includes the Ulugh Muztagh) is known as the Kumkol Basin: an endorheic basin, where several saline lakes are found. Part of Altun Shan National Nature Reserve is located in Qimantag Township, in southern Ruoqiang County.

The three main lakes in the Kumkol Basin are Lake Aqqikkol (also known as Achak-kum; ; , elevation), Lake Ayakum (); ; elevation ), and Lake Jingyu (, , elevation). These lakes are among the few noticeable bodies of water in this extremely arid area; the area around them is officially protected as the Altun Shan Nature Reserve.

Climate

Ruoqiang has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification ''BWk'') with extreme seasonal variation in temperature. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to , and the annual mean is . Precipitation totals only annually, and mostly falls in summer. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 63% in March to 82% in October, the area receives close to 3,100 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Administrative divisions

The county is made up of five towns, three townships and other areas:

Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-45-3rd-ed.jpg, Map including the southern Ruoqiang County area from the International Map of the World (1975)
Operational Navigation Chart G-7, 6th edition.jpg, Map including Ruoqiang (labeled as Ruoqiang (Jo-ch'iang)) and surrounding region ( DMA, 1980)
Map of Tibet- "TIBET CONFIDENTIAL" "Ethnographic Boundary of Tibet" "Approximate Line of Communist Advance" and "Reportedly occupied by Communists" "11518, CIA, 2-50" February 1950 map- 305945 11518 01.jpg, Map including Charkhlik (CIA, 1950)
Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-45-2nd-ed.jpg, Map including Ruoqiang (labeled as ERH-CH'IANG (CHARKHLIK) (JO-CH'IANG)) (1971)

Economy

, there was about 2,740 acres (18,113 '' mu'') of cultivated land in Qakilik.

Demographics

As of 2015, 18,983 (55.8%) of the 34,020 residents of the county were Han Chinese, 13,328 (39.2%) were Uyghur and 1,709 were from other ethnic groups.

, the county had a population of 31,877, of which 18,957 (59.5%) were of Han ethnicity, while Uyghurs numbered 11,761 (36.9%).

As of 1999, 58.72% of the population of the county was Han Chinese and 38.2% of the population was Uyghur.

As of 1997, several township-level divisions had a majority or plurality of Uyghur residents including Wutamu Township (62.3%), Tieganlike Township (61.3%), Ruoqiang Town (57.9%), and Waxxari (Washixia) Township (43.9%).

Transportation

Road

* China National Highway 218
*China National Highway 315
* G0612 Expressway connecting the county to Hotan and Kashgar to the West, and Golmud in Qinghai to the East
* G0711 Expressway connecting the county to Korla and Ürümqi to the North

Airport

* Ruoqiang Loulan Airport

Railway

* Golmud-Korla Railway
* Hotan–Ruoqiang railway ( zh, s=和若铁路) serves Ruoqiang with the latter as the terminus. Hotan–Ruoqiang also joins the Taklimakan Desert railway loop, together with sections of the Southern Xinjiang railway, Kashgar–Hotan railway, and Golmud–Korla railway, to form a railway link surrounding the Taklamakan Desert.

See also

* Lop Nur
* Loulan Museum

Notes

References

External links

* A Tourism Guide to "Charklik / Ruoqiang - Ancient Kingdom and Outpost Gatewa

{{Authority control

County-level divisions of Xinjiang
Populated places along the Silk Road
Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture