Barin Township, also spelled Baren (Sourced to the ''Xinjiang Public Security Gazette'' (), pages 790-795) (; ), is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Akto County Akto County (also known as Aqtu, Aktu, or Aketao; ) is a county in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The county borders Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and has two towns, 11 townships, four state-owned far ...

(Aketao),

Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture Kizilsu (also as Kezilesu; ; ug, قىزىلسۇ قىرغىز ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى; Kyrgyz: , , , ) is an autonomous prefecture of Kyrgyz people in the west of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, bordering with Kyrgyzstan and T ...

(Kezilesu),

Xinjiang Uygur 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 ...

, China. The township is located on the western edge of the

Taklamakan Desert The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and Te ...

at the foot of the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...

. Located in the middle west of the northeastern part of the county, the township covers an area of 1,087 square kilometers with a population of 38,706 (as of 2017). It has 19 administrative villages under its jurisdiction. Its seat is at ''Barin Village'' ().

Name

Barin Township is located between the Gez River (Gez Darya; ) to the west and the Kushan River (K'u-shan Ho; ) to the east. The word "Baihal" () from the

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

refers generally to the area between two rivers. The pronunciation of this word gradually evolved into the Uyghur word "barin", which became the name of Barin Township. Barin is transliterated into

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

as '', which is read in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

as Baren (

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

-derived) and Pa-jen ( Wade-Giles derived). Barin was also called ''Balong'' () 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 ...

History

In 1955, Barin, formerly part of Yengisar, became part of Akto County. In 1962, Barin Commune () was established. In 1962, Barin Commune was renamed Xianfeng Commune ('vanguard/pioneer commune' ). In 1984, Xianfeng Commune became Barin Township. In April 1990, the

Baren Township riot The Baren Township conflict was an armed conflict that took place between ethnic Uyghur militants and Chinese government forces in April 1990. It is unclear what happened during the armed conflict because reports of the incident vary greatly. C ...

occurred in the township.

Geography

The township of Barin is located on the edge of the

and the Pamir Plateau, and is located between the Gez River and the Kushan River on the eastern slope of the

Kunlun Range The Kunlun Mountains ( zh, s=昆仑山, t=崑崙山, p=Kūnlún Shān, ; ug, كۇئېنلۇن تاغ تىزمىسى / قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى ) constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the bro ...

and the western edge of the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...

. It is located in the east longitude 75°27′- 75°52′, the north latitude 38°08′- 39°36′, the southwest of the county seat

Akto Town Akto Town () is a town and the county seat of Akto County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Located in the northeast of the county, the town covers an area of 136 square kilometers with a population of 21,560 (as of 2017). It has 19 com ...

. It is bordered by Pilal Township, Yumai Township, Oytak Township, Kezilto Township, Bulungkol Township, and Shufu County and Yingjisha County. Its maximum length is 24 km from west to east, 66 km north to south, with a total area of 1,087 square kilometers and an arable land area of 2,940 hectares. Its seat is 17 kilometers away from the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Administrative divisions

The township has 19 administration villages. ;19 administration villages: * Arelmaili (Aremailicun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Barin (; Baren, Barencun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Dunbag (Dunbage, Dunbagecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Gulbag (; Gulbage, Gulbagecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Hanterek (Hantiereke, Hantierekecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Jiayi () * Kizilbayilak (Kezilebayilake; ) * Kizilwustang (Kezilewusitang, Kezile Wusitangcun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Kumu (Kumucun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Kurgan (Ku'ergan, Ku'ergancun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Nurbag (; Nu'erbage; ) * Qieke (Qiekecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Qoghunchi (; Kuohongqi, ) * Sayibag (; Sayibage, Sayibagecun, Sayi Bagecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Tur (Tu'er; ) * Xinghuayuan () * Yelgan (Yelegan, Yelegancun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Yingmaili () * Yitipak (Yitipake; ) ; Unincorporated villages * Bekmahalla ()

Economy

Agricultural products of Barin include wheat, corn and cotton among others. Barin is known for its apricots and also grows

sea buckthorn ''Hippophae'' is the genus of sea buckthorns, deciduous shrubs in the family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea buckthorn may be hyphenated to avoid confusion with the unrelated true buckthorns (''Rhamnus'', family Rhamnaceae). It is also referred to as ...

Baren apricot

Akto County was named as "''Hometown of Baren Apricot of China''" () by the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in 2002 and by the National Forestry Administration in 2014. Baren apricot () is one of the main fruits of local farmers planted, because of its highest yield and best quality in Barin and named after the place. Baren apricots are large, much flesh, high in sugar, sweet and delicious and of high yield, is a well-known local product of high-quality in Xinjiang. Barin Township is the core production area of Baren apricot, the local planting area of 933 hectares (14,000 mu) with 350,000 plants, the output reached 5,000 tons in 2018. The products through the e-commerce platform, were sold all over China.;

Demographics

, the population of Barin Township was 96.9% Uyghur.

References

{{Administrative divisions of Akto County Township-level divisions of Akto County