Ningxia (,; , ;
alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an
autonomous region
An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy ...
in the
northwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
of 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 ...
. Formerly a
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
, Ningxia was incorporated into
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous region for the
Hui people
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 ...
, one of the 56 officially recognised
nationalities of China
China's population consists of 56 ethnic groups, not including some ethnic groups from Taiwan.
The Han people are the largest ethnic group in mainland China. In 2010, 91.51% of the population were classified as Han (~1.2 billion). Besides the H ...
. Twenty percent of China's Hui population lives in Ningxia.
Ningxia is bounded by
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
to the east,
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
to the south and west and
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
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 ...
to the north and has an area of around .
[ This sparsely settled, mostly desert region lies partially on the ]Loess Plateau
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...
and in the vast plain of the Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...
and features the Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
along its northeastern boundary. Over about 2000 years an extensive system of canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
s (The total length about 1397 kilometers) has been built from Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
. Extensive land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
and irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
projects have made increased cultivation possible. The arid region of Xihaigu
Xihaigu is a region forming the southern tip of Ningxia, China. It consists of the seven county-level divisions Yuanzhou, Xiji, Longde, Jingyuan, Pengyang, Haiyuan and Tongxin. The former five counties being part of Guyuan city. It forms ...
, which covers large parts of the province, suffers from severe water shortage
Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is where ...
, which the canals were intended to alleviate.
Ningxia was the core area of the Western Xia
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...
in the 11th-13th century, established by the Tangut people; its name, "Peaceful Xia", derived from the Mongol conquest of the state. The Tanguts made significant achievements in literature, art, music, and architecture, particularly invented Tangut script
The Tangut script ( Tangut: ; ) was a logographic writing system, used for writing the extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia dynasty. According to the latest count, 5863 Tangut characters are known, excluding variants. The Tangut character ...
. Long one of the country's poorest areas, a small winemaking industry has become economically important since the 1980s. Before the arrival of viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
, Ningxia's 6.8 million people, 36 per cent of whom are Muslims from the 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 ...
ethnic group, relied largely on animal grazing, subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
and the cultivation of wolfberries used in traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...
. Since then, winemaking has become the premier specialty of Ningxia. The province housed almost 40,000 hectares of wine grapes and produced 120 million wine bottles in 2017 – a quarter of the entire nation's production.
History
As a frontier zone between nomadic pastoralists and sedentary farmers, Ningxia was a frequent seat of war and incursions by non-Chinese tribes. Ningxia and its surrounding areas were incorporated into the Qin Qin may refer to:
Dynasties and states
* Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China
* Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC
* Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
as the Beidi Commandery
Beidi Commandery ( zh, c=北地郡, l=Northern Land) was a commandery of the Qin and Han dynasties of China, located in what is now Ningxia. Its seat was Maling (馬領) during the Western Han period and Fuping (富平, near modern Wuzhong, Ningxia ...
as early as the 3rd century BC. To pacify the region, the imperial government established military colonies to reclaim land. In addition, horse pasturages were founded under the Imperial Stud to safeguard the supply of army horses, as early as the Western Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(206 BCE – 9 CE). Throughout the Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
and 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 ...
there were several large cities established in the region. The Liang Province rebellion at the end of the Han Dynasty
The end of the Han dynasty was the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, roughly coinciding with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian. During this period, the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow ...
affected Ningxia.
By the 11th century the Tangut people
The Tangut people ( Tangut: , ''mjɨ nja̱'' or , ''mji dzjwo''; ; ; mn, Тангуд) were a Tibeto-Burman tribal union that founded and inhabited the Western Xia dynasty. The group initially lived under Tuyuhun authority, but later submitted t ...
had established the Western Xia dynasty
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...
on the outskirts of the then-Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
. Jews also lived in Ningxia, as evidenced by the fact that in 1489, after a major flood destroyed Torah scroll
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...
s in Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
, a replacement was sent to the Kaifeng Jews
The Kaifeng Jews ( zh, t=開封猶太族, p=Kāifēng Yóutàizú; he, יהדות קאיפנג ''Yahădūt Qāʾyfeng'') are members of a small community of descendants of Chinese Jews in Kaifeng, in the Henan province of China. In the early ...
by the Ningbo
Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
and Ningxia Jewish communities
Jewish ethnic divisions refer to many distinctive communities within the world's ethnically Jewish population. Although considered a self-identifying ethnicity, there are distinct ethnic subdivisions among Jews, most of which are primarily the ...
.
It then came under 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 ...
domination after Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
conquered Yinchuan
Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...
in the early 13th century. Muslims from Central Asia also began moving into Ningxia from the west. By the late 17th century, Ningxia had become a weaving center, producing many early Chinese carpets. The Muslim Dungan Revolt of the 19th century affected Ningxia.
In 1914, Ningxia was merged with the province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
. However, in 1928 it was detached from Gansu and became a separate province. Between 1914 and 1928, the Ma clique
The Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia for 10 years from 1919 until 1928. Following the collapse ...
ruled the provinces of Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
, Ningxia and Gansu; General Ma Hongkui
Ma Hongkui (,
Xiao'erjing: ; March 14, 1892 – January 14, 1970) was a prominent warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the province of Ningxia. His rank was lieutenant general. His courtesy name was Shao-yun (少雲 ...
was the military governor of Ningxia and had absolute authority in the province. The Muslim conflict in Gansu, which lasted from 1927 to 1930, spilled over into Ningxia. In 1934, warlord and National Revolutionary Army
The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...
general Sun Dianying
Sun Dianying (; 1889–1948) was a Chinese bandit leader, warlord, and National Revolutionary Army commander who fought in the Warlord Era, Second Sino-Japanese War, and Chinese Civil War, earning notoriety for changing sides multiple times in co ...
attempted to conquer the province, but was defeated by an alliance led by the Ma clique
The Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia for 10 years from 1919 until 1928. Following the collapse ...
.
From 1950 to 1958, a Kuomintang Islamic insurgency
The Kuomintang Islamic insurgency () was a continuation of the Chinese Civil War by Chinese Muslim nationalist Kuomintang Republic of China Army forces mainly in Northwest China, in the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang, an ...
resulted in fighting throughout Northwest China, including Ningxia. In 1954, the Chinese government
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mili ...
merged Ningxia with Gansu, but in 1958 Ningxia formally became an autonomous region of China
The autonomous regions () are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. Like Chinese provinces, an autonomous region has its own local government, but under Chinese law, an autonomous region has more legislative rights, such as the r ...
. In 1969, Ningxia received a part of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, but this area was returned in 1979.
A number of Chinese artifacts dating from 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 ...
and Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, some of which had been owned by Emperor Zhenzong
Emperor Zhenzong of Song (23 December 968 – 23 March 1022), personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was change ...
, were excavated and then came into the hands of Ma Hongkui, who refused to publicize the findings. Among the artifacts were a white marble tablet from the Tang dynasty, gold nails, and bands made out of metal. It was not until after Ma died that his wife went to Taiwan in 1971 from America to bring the artifacts to Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
, who turned them over to the Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...
.
Geography
Present-day Ningxia is one of the nation's smallest provincial-level units and borders the provinces of Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
and Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
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 ...
. At 3556 meters above sea level, Aobaogeda () in the Helan Mountains
The Helan Mountains, frequently called Alashan Mountains in older sources, are an isolated desert mountain range forming the border of Inner Mongolia's Alxa League and Ningxia. They run north-south parallel to the north-flowing Yellow River in ...
is the highest point in Ningxia.
Ningxia is a relatively dry, desert-like region and features a diverse geography of forested mountains and hills, table lands, deserts, flood plains and basins cut through by the Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...
. The Ningxia ecosystem is one of the least studied regions in the world. Significant irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
supports the growing of wolfberries, a commonly consumed fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
throughout the region. Ningxia's deserts include the Tengger desert
The Tengger Desert or Tengri Desert ( mn, Тэнгэр цөл, ) is an arid natural region that covers about 36,700 km2 and is mostly in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China.
The desert is expanding in size.Haner, Josh, et al. (24 O ...
in Shapotou
Shapotou District (, Xiao'erjing: شَاپُوَتِوْ ٿِيُوِ) is a district of Zhongwei, Ningxia, China, noted for the Tengger Desert, and bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and Gansu province to the west.
It is the site of the Shapo ...
.
The northern section, through which the Yellow River flows, supports the best agricultural land. A railroad, linking Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
with Baotou
Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is h ...
, crosses the region. A highway has been built across the Yellow River at Yinchuan.
On 16 December 1920, the Haiyuan earthquake, 8.6 magnitude, at , initiated a series of landslides that killed an estimated 200,000 people. Over 600 large loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
landslides created more than 40 new lakes.
In 2006, satellite images indicated that a 700 by 200-meter fenced area within Ningxia— southwest of Yinchuan
Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...
, near the remote village of Huangyangtan—is a near-exact 1:500 scale terrain model reproduction of a 450 by 350-kilometer area of Aksai Chin
Aksai Chin is a region administered by China as part of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang and Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. It is claimed by India to be a part of its Leh District, Ladakh Union Territory. It is a part of the ...
bordering India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, complete with mountains, valleys, lakes and hills. Its purpose is as yet unknown.
Grasslands
It was reported that approximately 34 percent (33.85 million mu) of the region's total surface consisted 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 natur ...
. This figure is down from approximately 40 percent in the 1990s. The grasslands are spread over the dry desert-steppe area in the northeast (which forms a part of the Inner Mongolian steppe region), and the hilly pastures located on the semi-arid Loess Plateau in the south. It is ascertained that the grasslands of Ningxia have been degraded to various degrees. However, there is scientific debate as to what extent this degradation is taking place as measured in time and space. Historical research has also found limited evidence of expanding grassland degradation and desertification in Ningxia. A major component of land management in Ningxia is a ban on open grazing, which has been in place since 2003. The ecological and socio-economic effects of this Grazing Ban in relation to the grasslands and pastoralists' livelihood are contested. The ban stipulates that animal husbandry be limited to enclosed pens and no open grazing be permitted in certain time periods set by the Autonomous Region's People's Government.
Climate
The region is from the sea and has an arid continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
on the north to humid continental climate to the south, with average summer temperatures rising to in July and average winter temperatures dropping to between in January. Seasonal extreme temperatures can reach in summer and in winter. The diurnal temperature variation can reach above , especially in spring. Annual rainfall averages from , with more rain falling in the south of the region.
Mineral resources
Ningxia is rich in mineral resources with proven deposits of 34 kinds of minerals, much
of which located in grassland areas. In 2011 it was estimated that the potential value per capita of these resources accounted for 163.5 percent of the nation's average. Ningxia boasts verified coal reserves of over 30 billion tons, with an estimated reserve of more than 202 billion tons, ranking sixth nationwide. Coal deposits are spread over one-third of the total surface of Ningxia, and mined in four major fields in the Helan and Xiangshan mountains, Ningdong and Yuanzhou (or Guyuan). The region's reserves of oil and natural gas can be found in Yanchi and Lingwu County, and are ideal for large-scale development of oil, natural gas and chemical industries. Ningxia leads China in gypsum deposits, with a proven reserve of more than 4.5 billion tons, of which the rarely found, top-grade gypsum accounts for half of the total deposits. The Hejiakouzi deposit in Tongxin County features a reserve of 20 million tons of gypsum with a total thickness of 100 meters. There is a considerable deposit of quartz sandstone, of which 17 million tons have been ascertained. In addition, there are phosphorus, flint, copper, iron, barite, other minerals and Helan stone – a special clay stone.
Governance
The politics of Ningxia is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
.
The Chairman of the Autonomous Region is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Ningxia. However, in the Autonomous Region's dual party-government governing system, the Chairman has less power than the Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP) Ningxia Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Ningxia CCP Party Chief".
Ningxia has a friendship agreement with Sogn og Fjordane
Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...
county of Norway.
Administrative divisions
Ningxia is divided into five prefecture-level division
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...
s: all prefecture-level cities
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.
During the Republican era, many of China' ...
:
The five prefecture-level cities of Ningxia are subdivided into 22 county-level division
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...
s (9 district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
s, 2 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 ...
, and 11 counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
).
Urban areas
Economy
Rural Ningxia was for long an officially designated poverty area, and is still located on the lower rungs of the developmental ladder. It is the province with the third smallest GDP (Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
being the last) in China, even though its neighbors, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi, are among the strongest emerging provincial economies in the country. Its nominal GDP in 2011 was just 200.0 billion yuan (US$32.7 billion) and a per capita GDP of 21,470 yuan (US$3,143). It contributes 0.44% of the national economy.
Agriculture
Similar to other areas, Ningxia has seen a gradual decline of its peasant population due to rural–urban migration. In spite of this, the great majority (62.8 percent) was still agricultural at the time of the survey. Animal husbandry is important for the regional economy. In the main pastoral county, Yanchi, it is even the leading industry when specified for the primary sector. The dominant grazing animals are sheep and goat. In the (semi-)pastoral regions, herders engage in a mixed sedentary farming operation of dryland agriculture and extensive animal husbandry, while full nomadic pastoralism is no longer practiced.
Ningxia is the principal region of China where wolfberries are grown. Other specialties of Ningxia are licorice
Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted.
The liq ...
, products made from Helan stone, fiddlehead
Fiddleheads or fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable.
Left on the plant, each fiddlehead would unroll into a new frond (circinate vernation). As fiddleheads are harvested early in the sea ...
and products made from sheepskin
Sheepskin is the Hide (skin), hide of a Domestic sheep, sheep, sometimes also called lambskin. Unlike common leather, sheepskin is Tanning (leather), tanned with the Wool, fleece intact, as in a Fur, pelt.Delbridge, Arthur, "The Macquarie Dictiona ...
.
Ningxia wines
A Ningxia wine is any wine produced in the Chinese province of Ningxia ( Chinese: 宁夏; pronounced ǐŋɕjâ. Since large producers moved into the region in the 1980s and local producer successes at wine competitions in the 2010s spurred furth ...
are a promising area of development. The Chinese authorities have given approval to the development of the eastern base of the Helan Mountains
The Helan Mountains, frequently called Alashan Mountains in older sources, are an isolated desert mountain range forming the border of Inner Mongolia's Alxa League and Ningxia. They run north-south parallel to the north-flowing Yellow River in ...
as an area suitable for wine production. Several large Chinese wine companies including Changyu and Dynasty Wine have begun development in the western region of the province. Together they now own 20,000 acres of land for wine plantations and Dynasty has ploughed 100 million yuan into Ningxia. In addition, the major oil company China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec (), is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai.
Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec G ...
has founded a grape plantation near the Helan Mountains. The household appliance company Midea Midea may refer to:
* Midea Group (美的集团), a Chinese electrical appliance manufacturer
* Midea, Greece, a Greek town
* Midea (Argolid), a citadel in the town of the same name
* Midea or Mideia, name of four figures in Greek mythology
* '' ...
has also begun participating in Ningxia's wine industry. Vineyards have been set up in the region.
Industries and economic zones
Yinchuan
Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...
Economic and Technological Development Zone
The National Economic and Technological Development Zones () are the special areas of the People's Republic of China where foreign direct investment is encouraged. They are usually called the "Economic and Technological Development Zones" or simp ...
was established in 1992. Spanning , it has an annual economic output Rmb23.7 billion (25.1% up) (US$3.5 billion). Major investors are mainly local enterprises such as Kocel Steel Foundry, FAG Railway Bearing (Ningxia), Ningxia Little Giant Machine Tools, etc. Major industries include machinery and equipment manufacturing, new materials, fine chemicals and the animation industry.
Desheng Industrial Park (in Helan County
Helan County (, Xiao'erjing: حَلًا ثِيًا) is a county of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia, and borders Inner Mongolia to the northwest ...
) is a base for about 400 enterprises. The industrial park has industrial chains from Muslim food and commodities to trade and logistics, new materials and bio-pharmaceuticals that has 80 billion yuan in fixed assets. Desheng is looking to be the most promising industrial park in the city. It achieved a total output value of 4.85 billion in 2008, up 40 percent year-on-year. The local government plans to cut taxes and other fees to reduce the burden on local enterprises. The industrial output value reached 2.68 billion yuan in 2008, an increase of 48 percent from a year earlier.
Transport
Airports
* Yinchuan Hedong International Airport
Yinchuan Hedong International Airport is the primary airport serving Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is located southeast of downtown Yinchuan in the town of Linghe of Lingwu City. A rela ...
* Zhongwei Shapotou Airport
* Guyuan Liupanshan Airport
Guyuan Liupanshan Airport is an airport serving Guyuan, a city in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China. It is located in Zhonghe Township, from the city center. The airport cost 458 million yuan to build and started operation on 26 June 2010 ...
* Wuhai Airport
Wuhai Airport is an airport in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, China. It was opened in 2003.
History
Wuhai Airport was built under the 10th five-year plan. Construction of the airport cost 145 million yuan. ''China Daily'' reported in December 2003 th ...
(serves the northern area)
Highways
* China National Highway 109
China National Highway 109 connects Beijing with Lhasa. It runs westwards from Beijing via Datong, Yinchuan and Xining to Golmud before turning southwest to Lhasa. The portion of the highway from Xining to Lhasa is known as the Qinghai-Tibet Hi ...
* China National Highway 110
China National Highway 110 (G110) runs from Beijing to Qingtongxia, via Hohhot, Baotou in Inner Mongolia, and Yinchuan. It heads northwest from Beijing to Zhangjiakou then heads straight west, and runs to approximately .
In October 2004 and Nove ...
* China National Highway 211
China National Highway 211 (G211) runs from Yinchuan in Ningxia to Xi'an in Shaanxi. It is 645 kilometres in length and runs southwest from Wuning in Ningxia and then turns southeast on a virtual straight line to Xi'an via primarily rural areas ...
* China National Highway 307
China National Highway 307 (G307) runs west from Qikou, Huanghua, Qikou, Hebei towards Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province, and ends in Yinchuan, Ningxia. It is 1,351 kilometres in length.
Route and distance
See also
* China National Hig ...
* China National Highway 309
China National Highway 309 (G309) runs west from Rongcheng, Shandong towards Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province, Ningxia Autonomous Region, and ends in Lanzhou, Gansu. It is 2208 kilometres in length.
Route and distance
See also ...
* China National Highway 312
China National Highway 312 (312国道), also referred to as Route 312 or The Mother Road, is a key east-west route beginning in Shanghai and ending at Khorgas, Xinjiang in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it spans , pa ...
Bridge
* Taole Yellow River Expressway Bridge ()
Rail
* Baotou–Lanzhou railway
* Baoji–Zhongwei railway ()
Education
Demographics
Religion
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
is the single biggest religious tradition in Ningxia, where every third Ningxia resident is a Muslim. Many of the 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 ...
practice Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
s, Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
, Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
and Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
. According to a demographic analysis of the year 2010, Muslims form 34% of the province's population.[Min Junqing. ''The Present Situation and Characteristics of Contemporary Islam in China''. JISMOR, 8]
2010 Islam by province, page 29
Data from: Yang Zongde, ''Study on Current Muslim Population in China'', Jinan Muslim, 2, 2010. Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
is the religion of 1.17% of the province's population according to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2004.[China General Social Survey 2004. Report by: ]
In 2008, the number of mosques in Ningxia was 3,760, which is about one per 1730 residents.
Hospitals
* People's Hospital of Ningxia
* Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Ningxia
* Ningxia Medical College Affiliated Hospital
* Yinchuan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
* Yinchuan People's Hospital
* Yinchuan Stomatological Hospital
* Yinchuan Women and Children's Healthcare Center
* Women and Children's Healthcare Center of Ningixa
* Yinchuan No.1 People's Hospital
* Yinchuan No.2 People's Hospital
* Yinchuan No.3 People's Hospital
* Shizuishan No.2 People's Hospital
* Guyuan Hospital of Ningxia
Tourism
One of Ningxia's main tourist spots is the internationally renowned Xixia Tombs
The Western Xia mausoleums occupy an area of some at the foot of the Helan Mountains in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of northwestern China, and include nine imperial mausoleums and 250 tombs of imperial relatives and officials of China's ...
site located west of Yinchuan
Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...
. The remnants of nine Western Xia
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...
emperors' tombs and two hundred other tombs lie within a area. Other famous sites in Ningxia include the Helan Mountains
The Helan Mountains, frequently called Alashan Mountains in older sources, are an isolated desert mountain range forming the border of Inner Mongolia's Alxa League and Ningxia. They run north-south parallel to the north-flowing Yellow River in ...
, the mysterious 108 stupas, the twin pagodas
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
of Baisikou and the desert research outpost at Shapatou. A less visited tourist spot in Ningxia is the Mount Sumeru Grottoes (), which is among the ten most famous grottoes in China.
Museums
* Ningxia Museum, opened in 1988
* Ningxia Transportation Museum, opened in August 2008
* (MOCA Yinchuan) Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, opened on 8 August 2015.
Notable people
* Emma Gao
Emma Gao is a Chinese oenologist, who is the chief winemaker at Silver Heights winery, one of China's most prestigious vineyards.
Biography
Born in China, Gao moved to France in 1999, aged 21, to study oenology at the University of Bordeaux, w ...
, winemaker
* Zhang Jin Zhang Jin may refer to:
*Zhang Jin (Three Kingdoms), warlord of the Three Kingdoms era
*, Yuan dynasty government minister
*Zhang Jin (physical chemist) (born 1969), Chinese physical chemist
*Zhang Jin (badminton) (born 1972), Chinese badminton pla ...
, physical chemist and nanotechnologist
See also
* Major national historical and cultural sites in Ningxia
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicator ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
External links
Ningxia Provincial Government
*
at HKTDC
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 as the international marketing dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. The organisation has 50 offices around the world, includin ...
Ningxia Profile - UNESCAP
{{Authority control
Autonomous regions of China
Western China
States and territories established in 1958