The Subei Mongol Autonomous County ( zh, s=肃北蒙古族自治县; ) is an

autonomous county Autonomous counties () and autonomous banners () are Counties of China, county-level autonomous administrative divisions of China. Autonomous counties tend to have a large number of ethnic minority citizens compared to ordinary counties (if not ...

within 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 ...

Jiuquan Jiuquan, formerly known as Suzhou is a prefecture-level city in the northwesternmost part of Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China. It is more than wide from east to west, occupying , although its built-up area is mostly located in it ...

in the northwest of

Gansu Province Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

, China, bordering

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

to the west,

Qinghai Province Qinghai is an inland province in Northwestern China. It is the largest province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xining. Qinghai borders Gansu on the nort ...

to the southeast and Mongolia's

Govi-Altai Province Govi-Altai ( ) is a province in western Mongolia. Transportation The Altai Airport (LTI/ZMAT) has one paved runway and is served by regular flights to Arvaikheer, Bayankhongor and Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capi ...

to the north. Containing the northernmost point in Gansu, Subei is split into two non-contiguous sections and has an area of and had approximately 13,046 inhabitants in 2000. To the east it shares a border with Ejin Banner,

Alxa League Alxa League or Alashan League ( zh, c=阿拉善盟, p=Ālāshàn Méng; , Mongolian Cyrillic: Алшаа аймаг) is one of 12 prefecture level divisions and 3 extant leagues of Inner Mongolia. The league borders Mongolia to the north, B ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

History

In the early 1930s,

Birger Bohlin Dr. Anders Birger Bohlin (26 March 1898 – 28 November 1990) was a Swedish palaeontologist. As well as his work on dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals, Bohlin was part of the group that established the existence of Peking Man ''(Sinanthropus p ...

studied the paleontology of the region (then called Taban Buluk). In 1937, Subei Administrate Bureau () was established. On July 22, 1950, PLA forces entered the Subei area. The county-level Subei Autonomous District (), predecessor of the Subei Mongol Autonomous County, was established on July 29, 1950. The area became county-level Subei Mongol Autonomous District () in 1953. In 1955, the area became Subei Mongol Autonomous County. In September 1992, with the approval of the

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

, the only international border crossing in Gansu Province was opened in the Mazongshan area of Subei Mongol Autonomous County. Horse shows and races are held periodically in the county.

Climate

A large part of Subei is in the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...

. The county has been subject to large

dust storms A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transported ...

with noted incidents in May 2011 and June 2016. There are

glaciers A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

in some parts of the county.

Administrative divisions

Subei Mongol Autonomous County is divided into two

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 two townships. The county's administrative seat ("capital") is the town of Dangchengwan.

Demographics

Subei is home to Deed Mongols (

Upper Mongols The Upper Mongols, also known as the Köke Nuur Mongols or Qinghai Mongols, are ethnic Mongol people of Oirat and Khalkha origin who settled around the Qinghai Lake in so-called Upper Mongolia (present-day Qinghai). As part of the Khoshut Khan ...

) who migrated to the area. In 1996, the Mongol ethnicity population was 37.5% of the county's total population.

Gallery

File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nk-47-1st-ed.jpg, Map including northern Subei County area (1954) File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-8607404-mongolia-west.jpg, Map including part of the modern Subei Mongol Autonomous County area (1935)

References

External links

《中华民族》大美肃北第一集净土：随善良质朴肃北人民赏净土山水草原大美风光 20190819 , CCTV
('The Chinese People- Majestic Subei Part One: Pure Land: Enjoying the Mountains, Waters, Grasslands and Beautiful Scenery of the Pure Land with the Warm-hearted and Plain Folk of Subei Aug 19 2019 CCTV') {{Authority control Mongol autonomous counties County-level divisions of Gansu Jiuquan