Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was founded on October 1, 1955.

Xinjiang, as the largest administrative area of China, is 1.66 million square kilometers in size, approximately 1/6th of the total Chinese territory.

Xinjiang lies in China's far west, bordering Gansu, Qinghai and Tibet to the east and south, the Republic of Mongolia to the north, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan and Tadzhikistan to the west, and Afghanistan, Pakistan, India to the southwest. Xinjiang has the longest borderline of the China administrative areas, over 5,300 kilometers long.

Xinjiang has 47 ethnic groups, including Uygur, Han, Hui, Kirgiz and Mongolian. As the two main resident groups of Xinjiang, Uygurs account for 45 percent of the total population, while the Han make up around 40 percent.

Xinjiang was founded during the third century according to Chinese historical records, under the name "Western Regions." "Western Regions" was the name used the first time Chinese central government began to establish local authorities in China's west until the mid-18th century when the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) united the west, giving it the name Xinjiang, meaning "a new border area."

Xinjiang has always been a key point along the routes that connect central China to southern Asia and further to Europe; countless different ethnic groups used this line to migrate and trade in ancient times. Silk products from ancient China were often shipped along this road to South Asia and Europe, which is why later generations dubbed the route the "Silk Road."

Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, also acting as a gateway between China's west and foreign countries. Urumqi has GDP per capita of over US $3,000 and performs well economically among the 12 provincial and regional capital cities in western China.