Garzê County or Kardze County (), called Ganzi County in Chinese ( zh, s=甘孜县, p=Gānzī xiàn), is one of the 18 subdivisions of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in northwestern

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province, China. The Yalong River passes just south of the town Garzê, also known as Ganzi, the capital town of the county, which has some 16,920 inhabitants (2010), many of them ethnic Tibetans, and is famous for its Tibetan lamasery. Historically, it is part of the Tibetan cultural region of

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...

and now defunct province of Xikang (or Sikang). It lies on the northern section of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.

Geography and climate

Due to its elevation, Garzê County has a

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

-influenced

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dwb'') and

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

, with cold but very dry winters, and warm summers with frequent rain. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, while the annual mean is . Over two-thirds of the annual precipitation of occurs from June thru September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 49% in July to 74% in November and December, the county seat receives abundant, outside of summer, sunshine, totalling 2,620 hours annually. The

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...

is large, averaging annually.

Administrative divisions

Garzê County is divided into 3 towns and 18 townships:

Transport

* China National Highway 317 * Ganzi Gesa'er Airport

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garze County County-level divisions of Sichuan Populated places in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture