Shuanghu County ( zh, s=双湖县), also transliterated from Tibetan as Tsonyi County or Co Nyi County (), is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

under the jurisdiction of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

Nagqu Nagqu (also Naqu, Nakchu, or Nagchu; ; ) is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet. On May 7, 2018, the former Nagqu Prefecture was officially declared the sixth prefecture-level city in Tibet after Lhas ...

, in the northernmost part of the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

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 ...

. It was formed in 2012, combining the territory of the former Shuanghu Special District ( zh, links=no, s=双湖特别区, ) with the eastern half of

Nyima County Nyima County (; zh, s=尼玛县) is the westernmost Counties of the People's Republic of China, county-level division under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nagqu, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The northern part of the count ...

. Much of the county is within the

Changtang The Changtang (alternatively spelled Changthang or Qangtang) is a part of the high altitude Tibetan Plateau in western and northern Tibet extending into the southern edges of Xinjiang as well as southeastern Ladakh, India, with vast highlands and g ...

area. Shuanghu is the highest county of China with an average elevation of more than , while its county seat is located at . Both Tibetan and Chinese name translates to "twin lake" or "two lakes", the two lakes referred to as Khangro Lake (''khang ro tshwa kha'') and Rêjo Lake (''re co tshwa kha'') respectively. Shuanghu is very sparsely populated (averaging around 0.12 people per square kilometre, but concentrated in the southern portion of the county). The vast majority of its population practices

nomadic pastoralism Nomadic pastoralism, also known as nomadic herding, is a form of pastoralism in which livestock are herded in order to seek for fresh pastures on which to graze. True nomads follow an irregular pattern of movement, in contrast with transhumance ...

(mostly goats and sheep). The climate is very rough, cold and dry. There is a weather station in Shuanghu, established in 1999, which on average measures negative temperatures (Celsius scale) throughout the year. The highest temperature on record is +2.3 °C (July 2000), the lowest −62.4 °C (January 2006).

History

In the 1970s, population growth in

Xainza :''not to be confused with Naktsang Town in the Haa District of southwestern Bhutan'' Xainza (also Naktsang,Dorje (2009), p. 397. Xainza Town or Shantsa) is a town and township-level administrative unit and seat of Shentsa County or Xainza County, ...

and Baingoin counties led to overgrazing and frequent conflicts. Xainza County launched surveys into the uninhabited

region in the north of the county from 1971 to 1975, and identified several areas suitable for grazing. In 1976, 2,053 Xainza nomads reached Shuanghu after a month-long trek, together with their 160,000 cattle, goats and sheep. Shuanghu County was established in 2012. In 2019, the Tibet Autonomous Region relocated inhabitants from 3 townships in northern Shuanghu to

Gonggar County Gonggar County, also Gongkar (; zh, s=贡嘎县), is a county of Shannan, Tibet, Shannan in the southeastern part of Tibet Autonomous Region, China, it's one of the 12 counties of the prefecture. It has under its jurisdiction five towns, four tow ...

in an effort to address the extreme living conditions and altitude-related diseases in Shuanghu. In 2022, the relocation was extended to 4 more townships in the southern part of the county.

Administrative divisions

The county has 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 ...

Gallery

Shuanghu County.png, Location of Shuanghu Special District (outdated map, situation before 2012) Txu-oclc-6654394-ni-45-4th-ed.jpg, Map including northern Shuanghu and surrounding region ( DMA, 1975) NI-45-3 Red cliff lake China.jpg, NI-45-4.jpg, NI-45-7.jpg, NI-45-8.jpg, NI-45-11.jpg, NI-45-12.jpg, NI-45-15 Chaching Tso China.jpg, NI-45-16.jpg,

References

External links

World's highest county established in Tibet
China.org.cn, July 26, 2013. {{Nagqu Prefecture Counties of Tibet Nagqu

History

Administrative divisions

Gallery

See also

References

External links