Beitun is a city in the north of

Xinjiang 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 northwes ...

, China. Administratively, it is a

county-level city 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 ...

under the direct administration of the regional government, though it is geographically located in Altay Prefecture.

Overview

Beitun was established on 28 December 2011, making it the youngest city in China at the time, later replaced by

Sansha Sansha City () is a prefecture-level city under the Hainan province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and is the southernmost and least populated prefecture in China, with the smallest land area but the largest maritime territory. The ...

, which was established in 2012. It was established from portions of

Altay City Altay is a county-level city in Altay Prefecture within Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in far Northern Xinjiang, China. The city centre is located on the slopes of Kelan River. Administrative divisions Subdistricts () *Jinshan (Altin Taw ...

. Beitun covers an area of , has a population of 76,300, and is located on the

Irtysh River The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'e ...

. Its name comes from the accolade "China's northernmost cultivation land" ().

Transportation

As a terminus of the Kuytun–Beitun Railway, Beitun is an important transportation hub between Mongolia, northern Xinjiang, and Kazakhstan. Beitun Station, located a few kilometers southwest of the city center (), has direct passenger railway service from Urumqi. An extension of this railway toward

is under construction; it is expected to open in 2016.

References

{{authority control 2011 establishments in China County-level divisions of Xinjiang Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Populated places on the Irtysh River Populated places in Xinjiang