Bortala ( mn, Бортал, Mountain:''brown steppe'', ) is an
autonomous prefecture
Autonomous prefectures () are one type of autonomous administrative divisions of China, existing at the prefectural level, with either ethnic minorities forming over 50% of the population or being the historic home of significant minorities. A ...
for
Mongol people
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
in the northern middle of
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
,
Western China
Western China (, or rarely ) is the west of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers one municipality ( Chongqing), six provinces (Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai), and three autonomous re ...
. It has an area of .
Bole is its capital. "Boro tala" comes from the
Mongolian language
Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residen ...
and means "brown steppe".
Geography
Bortala is located in the southwestern part of the
Dzungarian Basin
The Junggar Basin () is one of the largest sedimentary basins in Northwest China. It is located in Xinjiang, and enclosed by the Tarbagatai Mountains of Kazakhstan in the northwest, the Altai Mountains of Mongolia in the northeast, and the Heav ...
. It occupies a V-shaped basin between the
Dzungarian Alatau
The Dzungarian Alatau ( mn, Зүүнгарын Алатау, ''Züüngaryn Alatau''; ; kk, Жетісу Алатауы, ''Jetısu Alatauy''; russian: Джунгарский Алатау, ''Dzhungarskiy Alatau'') is a mountain range that lies on t ...
in the northwest and the
Borohoro Mountains The Borohoro Mountains ( zh, s=博罗科努山, p=Bóluōkēnǔ shān, w=P'o-lo-k'o-nu shan; kk, Борохоро жотасы, ) is one of the major ranges of the Tian Shan mountain system. It is almost entirely located within in China's Xinjiang ...
in the southwest.
The prefecture borders
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
to the north and west, and has an
international border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
of . To the east it borders
Wusu
UsuThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, ''SinoMaps Press'' 1997); as the official romanized name and transliterated from Mongolian, also known as Wusu, is a county-level city with more than 100,000 residents in Xinjiang, China. It i ...
City and
Toli County
Toli County is a county situated in the north of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Tacheng Prefecture
Tacheng Prefecture is located in Northern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of ...
of
Tacheng Prefecture
Tacheng Prefecture is located in Northern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of and a population of 935,600 (2017). It is a part of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. The prefecture level city of Karamay forms a separate enclave ...
; to the south it borders
Nilka County
The Nilka County is a county situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture ( kk, Іле Қазақ автономиялық об ...
,
Yining County
Yining County ( zh, s=伊宁县) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Gulja County ( ug, غۇلجا ناھىيىسى; zh, s=固勒扎县), is a county within the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyg ...
, and
Huocheng County
Huocheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Korgas County (; ), is situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It is locat ...
of
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture ( kk, Іле Қазақ автономиялық облысы) (also as Yili) is an autonomous prefecture for Kazakh people in Northern Xinjiang, China, one of five autonomous prefectures in Xinjiang. Yining City ...
.
The prefecture has two large lakes,
Ebi-Nur
Ebi Lake ( Mongolian: Ev nuur, Middle Mongolian: Ebi; ) is a rift lake in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China, near the border of Kazakhstan. Lying at the southeast end of the Dzungarian Gate, Ebi Lake is the center of the ...
and
Sayram Lake
Sayram Lake (; ; ) is a fresh water lake located near the border of Kazakhstan at the Tian Shan Mountains in Börtala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The name Sayram originally derives from Kazakh, which means 'blessing'. The lake ...
.
Administrative divisions
Bortala is divided into two
county-level cities
A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...
,
Bole and
Alashankou
Alashankou is a border city in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It is a port of entry by both railroad and highway from Kazakhstan as part of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
Overview
The city is named a ...
; and two counties:
Jinghe County
Jinghe County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Jing County (; ), is a county of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Börtala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. It contains ...
and
Wenquan County
Wenquan County as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Mongolian as Arixang County, is a county in the northwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Börtala Mongol Autonomous Prefectur ...
. In addition, it is home to the Fifth Agricultural Division of the
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (), also known as XPCC or Bingtuan ("The Corps"), is a state-owned economic and Paramilitary forces of China, paramilitary organization in China, China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). ...
and its 11 regiment-level farms / ranches.
History
The
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
created the in this area. During the
Yuan and
Ming dynasties, the area was the territory of the
Oirats.
Chahar Mongols were moved here during the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
from
Kalgan
Zhangjiakou (; ; ) also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southw ...
, while
Torghuud Oirats
Oirats ( mn, Ойрад, ''Oirad'', or , Oird; xal-RU, Өөрд; zh, 瓦剌; in the past, also Eleuths) are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia.
Histor ...
moved eastwards from the
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
.
The
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
established the autonomous prefecture on July13, 1954.
Demographics
There are 35
nationalities
Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
in Bortala. According to the 2010 census, 65% of the 443,680 inhabitants are
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
, while the remainder are
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
,
Uyghur,
Kazakh,
Hui
The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
or of other nationalities.
;Population by ethnicity as of 2000 and 2010.
Economy
In 2004 the prefecture had a total
gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
of 3.69 billion
Renminbi
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
(including the XPCC 5th division), an increase of 11.9% over the previous year. Annual total imports and exports totalled
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
554 million, an increase of 96.8% over the previous year. Average annual salary was 11000
Renminbi
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
, an increase of 7.6%; average annual pure income per capita for agricultural workers was 3904
Renminbi
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
, an increase of 10.8%.
Transport
Alashankou
Alashankou is a border city in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It is a port of entry by both railroad and highway from Kazakhstan as part of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
Overview
The city is named a ...
is a
port of entry
In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internati ...
with both
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s and
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
s linking China with
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
; it is also one of China's national first-class port of entry (). The volume of imports / exports passing through Alashankou accounts for 90% of the total for all of Xinjiang, and has been second to only
Manzhouli
Manzhouli (; mn, Манжуур хот; ) is a sub-prefectural city located in Hulunbuir prefecture-level city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Located on the border with Russia, it is a major land port of entry. It has an area of and ...
,
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
among land ports-of-entry in China for 8 days.
See also
*
Ethnic Mongols in China
References
External links
Bortala Government websiteBortala Government website
{{authority control
Prefecture-level divisions of Xinjiang
Autonomous prefectures of the People's Republic of China
Mongols in China
1954 establishments in China