Kizilto (قىزىلتو يېزىسى, Keziletao ) 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, C ...

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 ...

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. Located in the southeastern part of the county, the township covers an area of 3,882 square kilometers with a population of 9,700 (as of 2015). It has 12 administrative villages under its jurisdiction. Its seat is at ''Ordolungozu Village'' ().

Name

The name of Kizilto is from Kyrgyz language, meaning "red mountains" (). This place is named after the red mountain stone on the south side of the Yigzya River (). 'Kizil' ('kezile') means 'red' and 'to' ('tao') means 'mountain'. Other nearby places with the word 'kizil' (red) in their names include

Kizilsu 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 ...

Kizil Caves The Kizil Caves ( zh, t=克孜爾千佛洞, s=克孜尔千佛洞, l=Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas; ug, قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي, translation=The Thousand Red Houses; also romanized Qizil Caves, spelling variant Qyzyl; Kizil means 'red') ar ...

, and

Kiziloy Kiziloy Township (قىزىلئۆي يېزىسى / Heiziwei, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) is the former county seat before 1989 and a township of Wuqia County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Located in the mi ...

History

In 1966, Kizilto Commune () was established. In 1967 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 goa ...

, Kizilto Commune was renamed Hongxing Commune (' Red star commune' ). In 1984, the commune became Kizilto Township.

Geography and resources

Kizilto Township is located to the south of 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 ...

and on the eastern slope of Kunlun Mountains, and between 75°02′- 76°41′

east longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

and 38°06′- 38°56′

north latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

. The township is bordered by Kizil Township of

Yengisar County Yengisar County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (also known as Yangi Hissar); via Mandarin Chinese known as Yingjisha, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Ying-chi-sha), is a county in the southwest of ...

(Yingjisha) to the east, by Akdala Ranch and Qarlung Township to the south, by Bulungkol Township to the west, Wuqia Township of Yengisar County to the north. Its maximum distance between east and west is 105 kilometers, and the maximum distance between north and south 75 kilometers. The seat of the township is 98 kilometers away from the county seat of

. It has a total area of 3,882 square kilometers, including 318.7 hectares of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...

, 86.8 hectares of forest land and 143,000 hectares of

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

. The average

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of the township is 2,200 meters. The northwest is a cold mountain climate with 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 hail. ...

of 150–200 mm. The southeast is a shallow mountain area, it is a temperate continental arid climate with an average annual temperature of 10.9 ℃ and a frost-free period of 150 days. The main

water system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – source ...

in the territory is the Yigzya River (). There are precious animals such as snow chicken, yellow sheep and

argali The argali (''Ovis ammon''), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild sheep that roams the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains. Description The name 'argali' is the Mongolian word for wild sheep. It ...

, and there are rare plants such as wild snow lotus,

codonopsis ''Codonopsis'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. As currently recognized, ''Codonopsis'' includes two other groups sometimes separated as distinct genera, i.e. ''Campanumoea'' and ''Leptocodon.'' The enlarged genus ''Codo ...

angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

gymnadenia conopsea ''Gymnadenia conopsea'', commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae native to northern Europe. Etymology The name of the genus ''Gymnadenia'' is formed from Greek words (', ...

cynomorium ''Cynomorium'' is a genus of parasitic perennial flowering plants in the family Cynomoriaceae. The genus consists of only one species, ''Cynomorium coccineum'' (although one of its subspecies is sometimes treated as a separate species). Its plac ...

daphnia ''Daphnia'' is a genus of small planktonic crustaceans, in length. ''Daphnia'' are members of the order Anomopoda, and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because their saltatory swimming style resembl ...

comfrey ''Symphytum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae, known by the common name comfrey (pronounced ). There are 59 recognized species.WFO (2022): Symphytum L. Published on the Internet; http://www.worldfloraonline.org/ ...

and cistanche. Mineral resources include

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

Administrative divisions

The township of Kizilto has 12

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. ;12

: * Arpalk Village (A'erpaleke, A'erpalekecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Ejak Village (Aijieke, Aijiekecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Hongxin Village () * Qapqa Village (قاپقا كەنتى / Kapuka, Kapukacun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Karatash Village (قاراتاش كەنتى; Kalatashi, ) * Karatashqimgan Village (Kalatashiqimugan, Kalata Shiqimugancun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Karawul Village (Ka'erwule, Ka'erwulecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Ordolungozu Village (Wu'erdulongwozi ) * Qimgan Village (Qimugan, Qimugancun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) * Tam Village (تام كەنتى; Tamu, ) * Tampaz Village () * Toyundok Village (Tuoyunduke, Tuoyundukecun;, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ) ; Unincorporated villages * Qat ()

Demographics

, the population of Kizilto was 99.16% Kyrgyz.

Economy

The economy of the township is mainly animal husbandry, and there are more high-quality summer grasses on shallow hillsides and river valleys. It mainly grows food crops such as

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, corn and highland barley.

References

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