Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County


Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County is a part of Hami Prefecture in Xinjiang and has an area of. It forms part of the China–Mongolia border on the county's north, while bordering Yizhou District to the south, Yiwu County to the east and Changji's Mori Kazakh Autonomous County to the west.
Barkol was made an autonomous county on October 1, 1954. It is noted for camel breeding and horse breeding with the Barkol horse well known throughout China. Due to the large number of camels, which is unparalleled in China, the county is nicknamed the "county of ten thousand camels".

History

Barkol was a territory of Pulei country in ancient times. During the continuous Han–Xiongnu War, in 72 BC, Emperor Xuan of Han sent Zhao Chongguo as general of Pulei, together with Wusun to attack the Huns. After the Northern Wei dynasty, Rouran and Gaoche competed for the Pule grassland for a long time. Under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang in 710, 3,000 Yiwu troops were sent to build a city in Ganluchuan. In the Yuan dynasty, it belonged to the eastern border of Bechbaliq Province, and was originally called Barkule. In the Ming dynasty, it belonged to the Oirat Heshuo Special Department. In 1697 during the Qing dynasty, it was annexed to Hami, and in the 1731, the city of Barkule was built, and Anxi Tongzhi was established. In 1760, the Barkun Zhili Hall was built. In 1762, Barkol set up the Admiral's House. In 1764, it was changed to the town standard of Barkol. In 1772, a military city was built in Barkol. In 1773, Zhenxi House was established. Barkol was the regional command center for the pacification of the Dzungar in the early Qing dynasty. After the establishment of Dihua City, the status of Barkol was replaced by it. In 1855, the government was changed to Zhili Hall in the west of the town. In the 1874, Zuo Zongtang smashed Agubai, and took the town west as the army's military station and grain station. A large number of people from Shaanxi and Gansu moved to the west of the town, and the west of the town gradually became an important military town. After 1883, Kazakh herdsmen from Altay and other places moved in one after another. In 1913, the office was withdrawn and Zhenxi County was established. In 1934, it was placed under the Hami Administrative Region. At the beginning of 1954, the name of Barkol County was restored, and then the Barkol Kazakh Autonomous Region was established to implement regional autonomy and belong to Hami County. In 1955, the Barkol Kazakh Autonomous Region was changed to Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County. In October 2017, Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County officially withdrew from China's national poverty-stricken county.

Administrative divisions

Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County is divided into five towns, seven townships, and four other township-level divisions.

Geography

Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County spans a total area of, including of mountains and the Gobi Desert, accounting for 66% of the total area of the autonomous county. The terrain is high in the southeast and low in the northwest, with an average elevation of. In the south is Mount Barkol, in the middle is Mount Moqinura, and in the north is Mount Beita. Barkol Mountain is located on the southern edge of the county and is the eastern section of the Tianshan Mountains. It stretches for more than within the county, with an average elevation of. The peaks above above sea level are covered with snow all year round and there are a large number of glaciers. The central part of Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County is the Moqin Wula Mountain, a branch of the Tianshan Mountains. The Moqin Wula Mountain extends from the northwest to the southeast. The northernmost part is the Beita Mountain, part of the Altai Mountains, which belongs to the Eastern Junggar fault block mountain system. There are 1.34 million mu of wetlands. The woodland is 1.227 million mu, the forest coverage rate is 1.45%, and there are more than 500 kinds of wild plants. Wild animals in the autonomous county include red deer, snow leopards, wild asses, Mongolian gazelles, wild boar, wolves, Corsac foxes, pine martens, marmots, snow chickens, quails, eagles, and falcons.
The total amount of water resources in Barkol County is, including of surface runoff and of groundwater resources. The area mainly relies on alpine glaciers melt water and atmospheric precipitation recharge. At present, the total annual development and utilization of water resources is, including of surface water and of groundwater. There are 46 large and small rivers in the county, with an annual runoff of. The larger rivers include Xiheigou, Dongheigou, Hongshankougou and Liutiao River, with a total annual runoff of. The rivers are mainly concentrated in the mountains around the Balikun Basin and flow to the Barkol Lake. Most of them are seasonal rivers with small water volume, short flow and large seepage. Most of the rivers infiltrate underground soon after exiting the mountain pass. Barkol Lake is a salt water lake with a total area of about. There are 556 large and small springs in Barkol, 45 of which can be used for agriculture and animal husbandry. There are 15 glaciers in Barkol, which are distributed on the northern slope of Mount Barkol in the south of the county. There are many small-scale ice bucket glaciers and hanging glaciers. There are flat-topped glaciers on the quasi-plain on the top of the mountain. The glacier area is, and has ice reserves of.
More than 30 kinds of mineral resources in Barkol County have been proved, including coal, petroleum, mirabilite, gold, and bentonite. Coal resources are mainly distributed in the Santanghu coalfield and the western coalfield, of which the Santanghu coalfield reserves 58.5 billion tons and the western coalfield reserves 31.2 billion tons. The net reserves of thenardite are 48.93 million tons, mainly distributed in Barkol Lake. It is one of the three major alkali sulfide production bases in the country, with a market share of 25% in the country. Oil is mainly distributed in the Santanghu Basin, with predicted oil and gas reserves of 930 million tons, proven oil reserves of 570 million tons and natural gas reserves of. Barkol Santanghu wind area is one of the nine major wind areas in Xinjiang, with an average annual wind speed of, an annual effective wind speed of 7,344 hours, more than 2,300 hours of full-load power generation, and a technological development volume of 48.97 million kilowatts. The installed capacity is 450,000 kilowatts, and the grid-connected power generation is 35 kilowatts, with a cumulative power generation of 889 million kWh.

Climate

Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County belongs to the temperate continental cool arid climate zone, with an average altitude of 1,650 meters. It is cold in winter and cool in summer, with sufficient sunlight and four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 1 °C, the extreme maximum temperature is 35 °C, and the extreme minimum temperature is −43.6 °C. The frost-free period is 98 to 104 days. The annual precipitation is only about 220 mm, and the evaporation is 1638 mm. The air is dry, the atmospheric transparency is good, the cloud cover is less, the sunshine is sufficient, and the light energy resources are abundant. The annual sunshine hours are 3,170 hours, which is one of the areas with the most sunshine hours in the country. Among them, the Santang Lake Basin has 3,350 sunshine hours throughout the year. hours or more.
Lake Barkol is an alkali lake in a closed basin located at. Current rainfall averages, while the annual evaporation rate is. Ancient shorelines show up as concentric rings on the satellite photo at right, indicating that water levels have varied many times in the past. One study identified five climates at Lake Barkol over the past 8,000 years, ranging from warm and wet to cold and wet and finally cold and dry at present. The average annual temperature in the area is now just, though temperatures swing from extreme highs to extreme lows.

Demographics

In the 2010 Chinese Census, the total resident population of Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County was 75,442, up from 85,964 in the 2000 Chinese Census.
Township-level division2000 Population2010 Population
12,55214,313
4431,797
17,8429,784
10,0186,635
1,4031,953
4,4723,662
6,2295,297
5,2734,335
7,5314,757
6,5044,942
2,9153,388
1,4582,037
Liangzhong Breeding Farmn/a367
Huangtuchang Development Zonen/a2,109
Barkol County Shannan Development Zonen/an/a
Bingtuan Hongshan Farm6,53310,066
Bingtuan Hongxing One Ranch2,791n/a

As of 2010, the autonomous county has 27,236 registered permanent households and 75,442 registered permanent residents, including 40,038 males, 35,404 females, and 50,775 agricultural populations. In 2000, the autonomous county had 22,257 registered permanent households and 85,964 registered permanent residents, including 44,068 males, 41,896 females, and 68,857 agricultural populations.

Ethnic composition

Economy

The economy of Barkol is mainly based on resource-based industry, agriculture, animal husbandry and tourism. In 1996, it was designated as an animal husbandry county by the autonomous region. There are 28.66 million mu of natural grassland and 19.98 million mu of usable grassland, including of high-quality mowing fields. The main specialty livestock are Barkol horse, Barkol Bactrian camel, Xinjiang brown cattle, Barkol Kazakh meat sheep, and Barkol velvet. Goats, Altai big-tailed sheep, etc. Among them, Barkol's "Likun" brand beef and mutton, and potatoes have been certified by China's national "green food". Barkol has of arable land, including of basic farmland, and about of sown annually. The main agricultural products are potatoes, Dalu vegetables, barley, wheat, late-ripening cantaloupe, etc. Chinese herbal medicines include snow lotus, cistanche, licorice, ephedra, mint, motherwort, wolfberry, etc. Since the 1960s, the construction of the reservoir has provided a good environment for fish growth. In 2010, the water surface area of Barkol was 256.33 hectares, and the main fish were carp and crucian carp. But the water temperature is low, the fish has a long wintering period and a short growth period. The large quantity of Artemia in Lake Barkol is a high-quality fish bait. The main industrial products are coal, wind power, thenardite, alkali sulfide, crude oil, gold, etc.
In 2019, the regional GDP of Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County was 7.86806 billion yuan, the added value of the primary industry was 1.00353 billion yuan, the added value of the secondary industry was 4.35177 billion yuan, the general public budget revenue was 585.06 million yuan, and the general public budget expenditure was 2.1399 billion yuan. The disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 32,387 yuan and 14,758 yuan respectively, and the added value of industries above designated size reached 3 billion yuan. Planting of wheat, of edible sunflower, of open field vegetables and of potatoes, the coverage rate of good crop varieties is 98%; 6,094 cattle have been improved in cold breeding, with an improvement rate of 75%; 435,100 livestock of various types have been slaughtered. First, the commodity rate reached 85.7%. The annual output of wind power was 5.5 billion kWh, and the output value of agricultural product processing enterprises was 109 million yuan, with online purchases of 27.95 million yuan and sales of 11.38 million yuan, an increase of 67% and 74% respectively. It received 2 million tourists throughout the year, achieved tourism revenue of 500 million yuan, and tax revenue of 119 million yuan.