Ruoqiang County

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.{{cite book |author-link = Peter Fleming (writer)

The county was established in 1902 as 婼羌 (Ruòqiāng, "recalcitrant Qiang"). In 1959, the less-offensive written form of "若羌" ("like the Qiang") was adopted. The Uyghur name of the county, "Çakilik", is transliterated in Chinese as "卡克里克" (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 (罗布泊镇), i.e., Lop Lake Town.

The southern part of the county (administratively, Qimantag Township (祁曼塔格乡)), 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; 阿其克库勒湖; , 4250 m elevation), Lake Ayakum (阿牙克库木湖); ; elevation 3876 m), and Lake Jingyu (, 260 km2, 4708 m 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.{{citation |editor-last=Zheng |editor-first=Du |editor2-last=Zhang |editor2-first= Qingsong |editor3-last=Wu |editor3-first= Shaohong

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 -7.4 °C in January to 27.5 °C, and the annual mean is 11.7 °C. Precipitation totals only 29 mm 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 () 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.

Notes

References

References

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2. link. (13 December 2010). zh-hans. 人口2.8万，有维吾尔、汉、回、东乡等11个民族，其中维吾尔族占38.4％，汉族占56％，辖2镇3乡，
3. Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian. (24 November 2019). "Exposed: China's Operating Manuals For Mass Internment And Arrest By Algorithm".
4. "若羌概况".
5. [http://www.xzqh.org/QUHUA/65xj/2824rq.htm 若羌县历史沿革]. Xzqh.org. Accessed 2011-05-27 {{webarchive. link. (January 20, 2010)
6. link. (30 July 2015). zh-hans. 新疆民政. zh-hans. 2015年7月24日，自治区人民政府同意撤销若羌县铁干里克乡建制，设立铁干里克镇，其行政区域界线、政府驻地及隶属关系不变。
7. link. zh. 若羌县人民政府网站
8. link. [[National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China]]. (2018). zh-hans. 统计用区划代码 名称 652824100000 若羌镇 652824101000 依吞布拉克镇 652824102000 罗布泊镇 652824103000 瓦石峡镇 652824104000 铁干里克镇 652824201000 吾塔木乡 652824203000 铁木里克乡 652824204000 祁曼塔克乡 652824501000 兵团三十六团
9. link. XZQH.org. (30 January 2015). zh-hans. 2003年，若羌县总面积199222平方千米，{...}2010年第六次人口普查，若羌县常住总人口35580人，其中：若羌镇9872人，依吞布拉克镇800人，罗布泊镇1713人，铁干里克乡5156人，吾塔木乡4082人，瓦石峡乡5886人，铁木里克乡457人，祁曼塔格乡14人，兵团三十六团7600人。2012年，自治区政府（新政函[2012]131号）批复同意撤销瓦石峡乡，设立瓦石峡镇。调整后，全县辖4个镇、4个乡。
10. (2003). Xie Yuzhong {{lang. zh-hans. 解玉忠. [[Xinjiang People's Press]]. zh-hans. 依吞布拉克 Yetimbulak {...}
    {{lang. zh-hans. 瓦石峡 Waxxari {...}
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14. link. {{lang. ug. شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى {{lang. zh-hans. 新疆维吾尔自治区统计局 Statistic Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (15 March 2017)
15. [http://www.xjbz.gov.cn/jtly/ly/ruoqiang.htm 若羌县] (Ruoqiang County), an overview document from the prefecture government web site. Accessed 2010-05-02. The document gives the county's population as ''ca''. 30,000, without stating the date of census or estimate.
16. (2004). "Governing China's Multiethnic Frontiers". [[University of Washington Press]].
17. link
18. (2020-06-10). "". link. Statistical Bureau of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
19. (30 April 2021). "456公里，和若铁路铺轨过半". cnr.cn.
20. (8 May 2018). "国家发改委同意新建和田至若羌铁路，总投资221.5亿元". Sina.
21. (2021-11-19). "和若铁路正式"闭环"".
22. (20 Jun 2022). "China opens last section of world's first rail loop around desert".
23. Zhang, Kate. (17 June 2022). "New railway completes 2,700km loop of Taklamakan Desert in move to integrate Xinjiang with rest of China".