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YiningThe official spelling according to ( zh, s=伊宁), also known as Ghulja () or Kulja ( Kazakh: ), is a
county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...
in northwestern
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' ...
, China. It is the administrative seat and largest city of
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Yining, also known as Ghulja or Kulja. Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres (16.18 per cent of Xinjiang), Ili Prefecture shares ...
. Yining is the modern successor to the nearby ruined city of Almaliq, Huocheng County, and is the third largest city in Xinjiang after
Ürümqi Ürümqi, , is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. With a census population of 4 million in 2020, Ürümqi is the second-largest city in China's northwestern interior after Xi'an, also the ...
and Korla.


Area and population

The city of Yining is a county-level administrative unit located along
Ili River The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan. It ...
. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 542,507, with a total land area of . It is the most populous city in the
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Yining, also known as Ghulja or Kulja. Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres (16.18 per cent of Xinjiang), Ili Prefecture shares ...
. The land area and population of the City of Yining saw an increase in 2003; the increase resulted from the transfer of two villages with some of land from the adjacent Yining County, which is a separate administrative unit from the city. Yining's population is primarily
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 ...
, Han, Hui, and Kazakh, along with smaller numbers of people of Mongolian, Xibe, Uzbek,
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, or other ethnicity.


History


Note on historical place names

From the 13 to 15th century it was under the control of
Chagatai Khanate The Chagatai Khanate, also known as the Chagatai Ulus, was a Mongol and later Turkification, Turkicized khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan, second son of Genghis Khan, and his descendants and successors. At its height in the l ...
. Another Mongol empire—the
Zunghar Khanate The Dzungar Khanate ( Mongolian: ), also known as the Zunghar Khanate or Junggar Khanate, was an Inner Asian khanate of Oirat Mongol origin. At its greatest extent, it covered an area from southern Siberia in the north to present-day Kyrgyzs ...
—established around Ili area. In the 19th and early 20th century, the word Kulja (from ) or Ghulja was often used in Russia and in the West as the name for the entire Chinese part of the Ili River basin as well as for its two main cities. In fact, the
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 Mom ...
clarifies the distinction between two similarly named cities of its time: * ''Kulja'' (i.e. today's Yining) or more specifically ''Old Kulja'' (elsewhere, also called '' Taranchi Kulja''), which was the commercial center of the region. * ''Suidun'' (i.e. Suiding, now called Shuiding) or more specifically ''New Kulja'', ''
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...
Kulja'' or ''Ili'' (elsewhere, also ''Chinese Kulja''), the Chinese fortress and the regional capital. Until the 1860s, Huiyuan to the south of Suiding was the regional capital.


Qing dynasty

The fort of Ningyuan () was built in 1762 to accommodate new settlers from southern
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' ...
. The forts of Huining () and Xichun () built later in 1765 and 1780 were also located within the modern Yining City. The Sino-Russian
Treaty of Kulja The Treaty of Kulja (also spelled Kuldja; ; ) was a treaty between Qing dynasty, Qing China and the Russian Empire, signed in 1851, opening Kulja (Huiyuan, Xinjiang, Huiyuan and later Yining, Ningyuan) and Tacheng, Chuguchak to Sino-Russian trade. ...
1851 opened the area for trade. In 1864–66, the city suffered severely from fighting during the Dungan Revolt. The city and the rest of the Ili River basin were seized by the
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
ns in 1871 during Yakub Beg's independent rule of Kashgaria. It was restored to the Chinese under the terms of the
Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881) The Treaty of Saint Petersburg or Treaty of Ili was an unequal treaty between the Russian Empire and the Qing dynasty that was signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on . It provided for the return to China of the eastern part of the Ili River, Ili ...
. In 1888, the Ningyuan County was established. ''The Geographical Magazine'' in 1875 by Sir Clements Robert Markham stated:
What little industry Kulja possesses is all due to the Chinese, who transplanted the taste for art, assiduity and skilfulness of their pigtailed race, even to these western outskirts of "the celestial flowery dominion of the Middle." Had the Taranjis and Kalmuks been left to themselves, or had they remained in a preponderating majority, Kulja would not be a bit farther advanced than either
Yarkand Yarkant County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also SASM/GNC ro ...
or Aksu. The principal trades are the following:— founders, manufacturing kettles, plates, and other implements of a very primitive form; paper-makers, whose productions do not seem to be superior to the paper manufactured at the present time after Chinese patterns at Khokand and
Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...
. There are, moreover, some confectionaries in which cakes of all shapes are baked of rice and millet, overlaid with sugar; also maccaroni-makers, the Taranjis being notoriously very fond of dried farinaceous food. In Eastern Turkistan there still exist many similar trades, and although their products are not equal to European articles of the same kind—I mean here the fabrics of the formerly western Chinese provinces— they are still said to be profitable. Finally among the tradesmen we may mention millers, vinegar manufacturers and potters. The number of factories amount to-day at Kulja to 38, wherein over 131 hands are occupied. To this of course other tradespeople have to be added, such as 169 boot-makers, 50 blacksmiths, 48 carpenters, 11 brass-founders, 3 silversmiths, 26 stone-cutters, and 2 tailors.


Republic of China

In 1914, the Ningyuan County was renamed Yining County to avoid confusion with other places in China named Ningyuan.


East Turkistan Republic

Ghulja was the site of the November 7, 1944 East Turkistan Revolution and served as capital city of the
Second East Turkistan Republic The East Turkestan Republic (ETR) was a satellite state of the Soviet Union in northern Xinjiang (East Turkestan) that existed from 1944 to 1946. It is often described as the Second East Turkestan Republic to differentiate it from the First ...
from November 12, 1944 until December 22, 1949.


People's Republic

Yining became a separate city from Yining County in 1952. In 1962, major Sino-Soviet clashes took place along the
Ili River The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan. It ...
. In 1997, in what came to be known as the Ghulja incident, the city was rocked by two days of demonstrations or riots followed by a
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
government crackdown resulting in at least 9 deaths following the execution of 30
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 ...
activists.


Geography

Yining is located on the northern side of the
Ili River The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan. It ...
in the
Dzungaria Dzungaria (; from the Mongolian words , meaning 'left hand'), also known as Northern Xinjiang or Beijiang, is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. Bound by the Altai Mountains to the n ...
n basin, about east of the border with
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
and about west of
Ürümqi Ürümqi, , is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. With a census population of 4 million in 2020, Ürümqi is the second-largest city in China's northwestern interior after Xi'an, also the ...
. The Ili River valley is far wetter than most of Xinjiang and has rich grazing land. The City of Yining borders on Huocheng County in the west and the Yining County in the east; across the river in the south is Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County.


Climate

Yining has a
semiarid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BSk''), without the strong variation in seasonal precipitation seen across most of China. Dry and sunny weather dominates year-round. Winters are cold, with a January average of . Yet the influence of the
Dzungarian Alatau The Dzungarian Alatau (, ''Züüngaryn Alatau''; ; , ''Jetısu Alatauy''; , ''Dzhungarskiy Alatau'') is a mountain range that lies on the boundary of the Dzungaria region of China and the Jetisu, Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan. It has a length of ...
to the northwest and Borohoro Mountains to the northeast helps keep the city warmer than more easterly locales on a similar latitude. Summers are hot, with a July average of . Diurnal temperature ranges tend to be large from April to October. The annual mean temperature is . With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 51% in December to 77% in September, sunshine is abundant and the city receives 2,914.7 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from on 29 January 1969 to on 30 July 2024.


Administrative divisions

The administrative divisions of Yining include eight subdistricts, 4
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 5 townships:


Economy

The city's nominal GDP was approximately 20.9 billion RMB (US$3.1 billion) as of 2015 with an annual increase of 7.6%.The nominal GDP per capita was approximately 38,805 RMB (US$5976). Yining is the chief city and the agricultural and commercial center of the Ili valley. It is an old commercial center trading in tea and cattle and it is still an agricultural area with extensive livestock raising. It has fruit orchards. Iron, coal and uranium are mined nearby.


Transportation

* Regular bus service is available to other cities in the region and taxis are available locally. * Ili Yining International Airport is located several kilometers north of the city. * The Jinghe-Yining-Horgos Railway, an electrified railway from Ürümqi to Yining to Khorgos on the China-Kazakhstan border was finished in the late 2009. Daily passenger service – an overnight Ürümqi-Yining train service began on July 1, 2010. * China National Highway 218 *
China National Highway 312 China National Highway 312 (312国道), also referred to as Route 312, is a key east-west route beginning in Shanghai and ending at Khorgas, Xinjiang in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it spans , passing through Ji ...


Demographics

As of 2014, Yining had a population of 559,700. The city is inhabited by 38 ethnic groups, including 269,700 Uyghur people, 204,000 Han people, 26,200 Kazakhs and 39,600 Hui people, accounting for 48.19%, 36.45%, 4.68% and 7.08% of gross population respectively.


Culture

Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Museum, opened in Yining in 2004, is one of Xinjiang's most important museums, housing artifacts from throughout the prefecture. In fact, at the time it opened it became, in the words of a Western scholar, the "only modern museum" in Xinjiang. (Xinjiang of course also has the provincial museum in
Ürümqi Ürümqi, , is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. With a census population of 4 million in 2020, Ürümqi is the second-largest city in China's northwestern interior after Xi'an, also the ...
; but at that time point, its old building had been demolished while its replacement was still under construction.)A TALE OF TWO CITIES: NEW MUSEUMS FOR YINING AND URUMQI
''CHINA HERITAGE NEWSLETTER'', No. 3, September 2005 Batul Mosque (for Uyghur people), Tatar Mosque (for Tatar people) and Shaanxi Grand Mosque (for Hui people) are considered the three main mosques in Ili.


Notable persons

*
Muyesser Abdul'ehed Muyesser Abdul'ehed is a Uyghurs, Uyghur poet and teacher, who has spoken out against civilian internment of Uyghur people by People's Republic of China, Chinese authorities. She teaches Uyghur language to children of the Uyghur diaspora. Ear ...
* Dawut Abdurehim * Edham Mamet *
Masud Sabri Masud Sabri, also known as Masʿūd Ṣabrī (; zh, s=麦斯武德·沙比尔, t=麥斯武德·沙比爾, p=Màisīwǔdé·Shābì'ěr; 1886–1952), was an ethnic Uyghur politician of the Republic of China who served as the governor of Xinjiang ...
* Sanubar Tursun *
Shohrat Zakir Shohrat Zakir (, ; born August 1953) is a Chinese politician of Uyghur ethnicity who served as the chairman of Xinjiang and the deputy secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xinjiang Committee from 2014 to 2021. Born in Yining (Ghulja), h ...
* Behram Abduweli


Notes


References


External links

*
Yining City Government


(Borders shown as they were before the annexation of the villages of Dadamutu ( on the map) and Panjin ( on the map) in 2004) {{Authority control Populated places in Xinjiang Populated places along the Silk Road Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture County-level divisions of Xinjiang National Famous Historical and Cultural City National Sanitary City