Ulugqat County 乌恰县 (Chinese) ۇلۇۇچات وودانى (Kyrgyz) ئۇلۇغچات ناھىيىسى (Uyghur) Ulughchat, Ulugh Chat, Wuqia
County
Ulugqat County (red) within Kizilsu Prefecture (yellow) and Xinjiang
Ulugqat Location of the seat in Xinjiang Show map of Southern Xinjiang Ulugqat Ulugqat (Xinjiang) Show map of Xinjiang Ulugqat Ulugqat (China) Show map of China
Coordinates (Ulugqat County government):39°43′09″N75°15′33″E / 39.7191°N 75.2592°E /39.7191; 75.2592
Country	China
Autonomous region	Xinjiang
Autonomous prefecture	Kizilsu
County seat	Ulugqat (Wuqia)
Area
• Total	19,118 km2 (7,382 sq mi)
Population  (2020)[1]
• Total	60,912
• Density	3.2/km2 (8.3/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard Time[a])
Area code	653024
Website	www.xjwqx.gov.cn

Ulugqat County^[2][3][4][5] (also known asUlughchat County^[6][7] andWuqia County;^[6]Chinese:乌恰县;pinyin:Wūqià Xiàn) is acounty inXinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. It is under the administration of theKyrgyzautonomous prefecture ofKizilsu. The county has twotowns, ninetownships and one state-owned farm, eightcommunities and 34villages under its jurisdiction in 2017, itscounty seat isWuqia Town. It contains an area of 19,118.11 km² (7,381.54 sq mi) and has a population of 56,633 (as of 2017) with mainethnic groups ofKyrgyz,Han andUyghur peoples.

Wuqia County is one of the two westernmost counties in China. It borders withArtux City to the east,Kashgar City to the south,Akto County to the southwest and theKyrgyz Republic to the northwest. There are two national-level ports of Turugart (吐尔尕特口岸) and Arkaxtam (伊尔克什坦口岸), which are the link betweenCentral andWestern Asia and the bridgehead of opening up to the outside world. The county has harsh natural conditions,dry climate,earthquakes,floods,snow storms,sandstorms and other frequentnatural disasters. From 1905 to the present, there have been 56 recorded earthquakes with a major earthquake ofmagnitude 6.0 M_w  or above, and more than 20,000 earthquakes ofmagnitude below 6.0 M_w .

There are 11 local ethnic groups in the county, such asKyrgyz, Han, Uyghur,Hui,Uzbek,Tajik, etc. and the Kyrgyz ethnic group accounts for about 80% of the total population of the county. Its total land area of the county is 19,118 square kilometers with an average elevation of 2,890 meters and its county seat is at 2,200 meters above sea level. Of which,mountains,Gobi and wasteland account for 99.8% of the total area; the total area of desert grassland is more than 10,667 square kilometers, arable land is 23,000 mu (1,533 hectares), per capita arable land is less than 0.5 mu (333 square meters). It is a typical plateau animal husbandry county with traditional animal husbandry as the main county.^[8]

Th name Ulugqat is from theKyrgyz language and meansbranch valleys (山沟分岔口). The name "Wuqia" isMandarin Chinese for an abbreviated form of the name "Wulukeqiati" (乌鲁克恰提), based on the sound of the Kyrgyz name "Ulugqat".^[9]: 193 It is named after that the Kizilsu Valley divides into two separate branch valleys in the area and the place presents the shape of the three mountain valleys.^[10]

The county of Wuqia was part ofShule Commandery (疏勒都督府) in theHan period. It was in the territory ofFirst Turkic Khaganate andYarkent Khanate in the 16th century.

It was part ofShufu County in theQing period. TheUlugqat Branch (乌鲁克恰提分县) was formed from Shufu County in 1913 and the town of Ulugqat was its seat, Ulugqat Branch was changed toUlugqat Division (乌鲁克恰提设治局) in 1929 and the county of Wuqia was established in 1938 and under administration ofKashgar Administrative Region. The county was amalgamated toKizilsu Autonomous Prefecture with its establishment in 1954.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred in Wuqia County on August 23, 1985, and its county seat was destroyed. Later, the new county seat was rebuilt in Borux (博鲁什), 6 km away to the northeast of the former seat. The inauguration ceremony of the new seat was held on October 17, 1989.^{[10][9]: 194}

On October 5, 2008, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake collapsed 721 houses; there were no casualties. 100 residents were relocated to emergency shelters; another 100 were to live in newly-built homes.^[3]

Wuqia County is located between 39°24′- 40°17′ north latitude and 73°40′- 75°45′ east longitude. It is located in the west of Xinjiang, north ofPamir Plateau, west ofTarim Basin, and two majormountain ranges of southernTianshan andKunlun junction. It is adjacent toArtux City in the east,Kashgar City in the south andAkto County in the southwest, it is bordered by theKyrgyz Republic on the northwest with a boundary line of 410 kilometers. The county is in a temperate arid climate zone, the total area of the county is 19,118 square kilometers, with 10,667 square kilometers of various grasslands, of which 60% of excellent grasslands. There are two national first-level ports of Turugart and the Arkaxtam. The 309 provincial road connects the two ports with Kyrgyzstan, which is a shortcut for import and export trade between China and Central Asian countries.

As of 2013, provenlead andzinc reserves of six million tons,natural gas reserves of 40.9 billion cubic meters,copper reserves of 600,000 tons,coal 12.75 million tons,gold 130 tons,iron seven million tons,limestone andgypsum reserves of 100 million tons,water energy resources one million kilowatts. In July 2014, a 100-ton super-large gold mine was discovered in the county. Wuqia County has two major rivers of theKizi River (克孜河) and theQakmark River (恰克玛克河) with a surface water resource of 960 million cubic meters.^[12]

The terrain of Wuqia County is low in the southeast, high in the northwest and southwest, surrounded by mountains. It is a typicalmountainous terrain with an altitude of 1,760 - 6,146 meters and a horseshoe shape. The county is located in the wedge-shaped zone in the west of the Kashgar Delta (喀什三角洲), which is a fold mountains of theMiocene. The landform appears in the mountains of erosion. The mountain area accounts for 76% of the total area of Wuqia County, 14,535 square kilometers. The county is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the southeast is the Kashgar Delta plain.^[13]

Wild animal resources in Wuqia County includesnow leopard,brown bear,goitered gazelle,wild boar,marmot,snow chicken, andchukar partridge.^[12]

Wild medicinal plant resources includesymphytum,liquorice, ferula sinkiangensis,ephedra sinica,plantago,codonopsis,angelica,dandelion,astragalus,cynomorium, andwolfiporia extensa.^[12]

The mineral resources discovered in Wuqia County includecoal,fossil oil,oil shale,iron,copper,lead,zinc,antimony,gold,phosphorus,salt,sulfur,limestone,gypsum, ceramic soil and so on. Among them, coal reserves account for more than half of Kizilsu's coal reserves.^[12]

The county was divided into three towns and eight townships,^[16] and a pasture farm run by theXPCC.^[17]

• Other:
  • Toyun Ranch (兵团托云牧场,Uyghur:بىڭتۇەن تويۇن چارۋىچىلىق فېرمىسى,Kyrgyz:بىڭتۇان تويۇن چارباچىلىق مايدانى)

Wucai County is located inTianshan,Kunlun Mountains at the intersection of thePamir Plateau, the natural landscape is unique, the border ethnic customs rich, with a unique folk customs, geological features. There are the last place in mainland China sunset - Simhana (斯姆哈纳), there is Tianshan and Kunlun intersection of the Grand Canyon's majestic landscape, there are well-known Yuqitash Steppe (玉其塔什草原), Hongshan Valley (红山谷), Quanhua (泉华), Shanghai Forest Ranch (尚亥森林牧场), Oksalur Township Millennium populus euphratica forest (吾合沙鲁乡千年胡杨林), shell mountain of ancient sea ruins (古海遗址贝壳山), earthquake-resistant monument (抗震纪念碑) and other tourist attractions. Pamir is one of the birthplaces of highland culture. The main ethnic group of the neighboringKyrgyz Republic and theChinese Kyrgyz have formed the unique and profound advantage of human resources open toCentral Asia in Wucai County.^[18][16]

• Ishaq Beg Munonov

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