Jigin (Note: Jigin is not a county.) Township (جىغىن يېزىسى / Jigen ) is considered to be the westernmost

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 ...

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 ...

located in

Ulugqat County Ulugqat County (also known as Ulughchat County and Wuqia County; ) is a county in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. It is under the administration of the Kyrgyz autonomous prefecture of Kizilsu. The county has two towns, nine townships an ...

(Wuqia),

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 ...

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 ...

. The township covers an area of 1,452 square kilometers. It has four

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

under its jurisdiction and its seat is at Saz Village ().

History

The word Jigin comes from the

Kyrgyz language Kyrgyz (; autonym: , tr. ''Kyrgyz tili'', ) is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia. Kyrgyz is the official language of Kyrgyzstan and a significant minority language in the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in X ...

, which means "get-together". It was part of the 4th Township of the 2nd district of Wuqia County in 1950 and part of Ulugqat Commune () in 1958. Jigin Commune () was formed from Ulugqat Commune in 1962. In 1968 during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, the commune was renamed Fanxiu Commune (). The original name was restored in 1980. In 1984, the commune was reorganized as a township.

Geography

Jigin Township is located 120 kilometers west of the county seat

Wuqia Town Wuqia Town () is a town and the county seat of Wuqia County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Located in the middle east of the county, the town covers an area of 288 square kilometers with a population of 13,898 (as of 2017). It has 5 ...

and 25 kilometers away east of Arkaxtam Port on the

China–Kyrgyzstan border The China–Kyrgyzstan border is in length and runs from the tripoint with Kazakhstan following a roughly south-west line across various mountain ridges and peaks of the Tian Shan range down to the tripoint with Tajikistan. The border divides ...

. It is adjacent to

Ulugqat Township Ulugqat Township (ئۇلۇغچات يېزىسى ) is a township of Ulugqat County (Wuqia) in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Located in the middle north of the county, the township covers an area of 3 ...

in the east and Oksalur Township in the south, and borders with the

Kyrgyz Republic Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east ...

in the northwest with a boundary line of 108 kilometers. Jigen is located between 2,700 and 5,700 meters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, with an average annual temperature of 6.2 degrees and an

annual precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hai ...

of 2.2 ml. The township has 253 hectares of cultivated grassland, 870 square kilometers of natural grassland, 2,667 hectares of natural forest. There are 18

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

es in the township.

Politics and Government

Settlements

The township has 4 administration villages and 4 unincorporated villages under its jurisdiction. * Saz Village (Sazi; ) * Simhana Village (Simuhana;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) *: Simhana is Kyrgyz for 'phone room' (). Simhana is west of the Ulugqat (Wuqia) county seat on the southern bank of the

Kezi River Kezi may refer to: * Kezi, Iran * Kezi, Zimbabwe See also * KEZI Kezi may refer to: * Kezi, Iran * Kezi, Zimbabwe See also * KEZI Kezi may refer to: * Kezi, Iran * Kezi, Zimbabwe Khezi is a village in Matobo District, Matabeleland South provin ...

. Simhama is considered to be the westernmost village of China, located near

Erkeshtam Erkeshtam, also Irkeshtam or Erkech-Tam ( ky, Эркеч-Там, Erkech-Tam, ), is a border crossing between Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang, China, named after a village on the Kyrgyz side of the border in southern Osh Region. The border crossing is also ...

, Kyrgyzstan. * Sahal Village (Sahale; ) * Hanaterak (Halatielieke; )

CCP Party Secretaries

* Zhong Zi'ou (), 2017

Demographics

, the population of Jigin was 99.6%

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

Notable people

*Burumahan Maoleduo (), wife in a herding family and on-foot border guard of fifty years

References

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