Dongxiang Autonomous County (; Santa: Dunxianzu Zizhixien) is an

autonomous county Autonomous counties () and autonomous banners () are Counties of China, county-level autonomous administrative divisions of China. Autonomous counties tend to have a large number of ethnic minority citizens compared to ordinary counties (if not ...

in the

Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture ( zh, s=临夏回族自治州 , t=臨夏回族自治州 , p=Línxià Huízú Zìzhìzhōu, Xiao'erjing: ), formerly known as Hezhou (河州) and Baohan (枹罕), is located in Gansu, Gansu Province, south of the pro ...

, province of

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It was established as a Dongxiang ethnic autonomous area in 1950. Historically, Dongxiang has long been directly under the jurisdiction of Linxia. During the

Republic of China (1912–1949) The Republic of China (ROC) began on 1 January 1912 as a sovereign state in mainland China following the 1911 Revolution, which overthrew the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dynasty and ended China's imperial China, imperial history. From 1927, ...

period, its area was divided between the surrounding counties. Its population in 2020 was 381,700, 88% of whom belonging to the Dongxiang minority group. As of 1993, half of the total Dongxiang minority population lived in the county. At least until the end of the 20th century, Dongxiang County was very impoverished and undeveloped, having a literacy rate of just 15%, the lowest in China. In 2017, it had the highest poverty rate of Gansu, already the poorest province in China. Dongxiang County has a typical

Loess Plateau The Loess Plateau is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic rock, clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of Dust#Atmospheric, wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surrounded by t ...

landscape, with numerous gullies and mountains and a dry climate.

Administrative divisions

Dongxiang Autonomous County is divided to 8 towns and 16 townships. ;Towns ;Townships

Climate

Culture

Dongxiang County is the birthplace and center of Dongxiang culture. Its specialty food includes Pinghuo, a dish of steamed lamb.

Transport

* China National Highway 213

Sources

Autonomous counties of the People's Republic of China County-level divisions of Gansu Dongxiang people {{Gansu-geo-stub