Xing'an (; or Hsingan) refers to a former province, which once occupied western

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

and part of northwest

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

provinces of China. The name is related to that of the

Greater Khingan The Greater Khingan Range or Da Hinggan Range ( zh, s=大兴安岭, t=大興安嶺, p=Dà Xīng'ān Lǐng; IPA: ) is a volcanic mountain range in the Inner Mongolia region of Northeast China. It was originally called the Xianbei Mountains, whi ...

Mountains. Another name used for this land was Barga, which is also the name used for the western part of the province, the Barga district.

Administration

The capital of Xing'an was the town of Hailar (or Hulun), on the China Eastern Railway line near the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n border. Xing'an was divided into various sub-prefectures, similar in form to other Manchukuo provinces. The second city of importance was Manzhouli.

History

Xing'an province was first created in 1932 as an administrative sub-division of the Japanese-controlled Empire of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

. From 1939 to 1943, the province was divided into four parts, labeled Xing'an North, Xing'an East, Xing'an South and Xing'an West. These four provinces were reunited into a Xing'an Consolidated Province (興安総省) in 1943. Xing'an at encompassed nearly one third of the land area of Manchukuo. The population of Xing'an, estimated at 965,000 in 1935, was predominantly ethnically

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

, and Xing'an was therefore administered by a local Mongol prince (under supervision of a Japanese resident supervisor). Xing'an was the site of a number of clashes in the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars, most notably the Nomonhan Incident where Japanese

Kwantung Army The Kwantung Army (Japanese language, Japanese: 関東軍, ''Kantō-gun'') was a Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army, general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945. The Kwantung Army was formed in 1906 as a security force for th ...

and

Manchukuo Imperial Army The Manchukuo Imperial Army ( zh, s=滿洲國軍, p=Mǎnzhōuguó jūn) was the army of Manchukuo, a puppet state established by the Empire of Japan in Manchuria. Established in 1932, it was primarily involved in counterinsurgency operations agai ...

forces were defeated by the

Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of Peop ...

in 1939. After the annexation of Manchukuo by the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

continued to recognize the area as Xing'an Province, with the capital in Hailar. However, under the administration 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 ...

from 1949, the area was annexed to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and is now referred to as the

Hulunbuir Hulunbuir or Hulun Buir, ''Hūlúnbèi'ěr''; , ''Khulunbuir'' is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Its administrative center is located at Hailar District, its largest urban area. Major scenic features are the high ...

Prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

. The population is now estimated to be over 80% ethnic

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

Economy

Under the Manchukuo period, Xing'an was primarily an agricultural area, with food grains, particularly wheat, soy and corn, as well as cattle, sheep, horse and other livestock. The primary economic asset of Xing'an was its extensive

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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

deposits, primarily at Chalai Nor hill, 25 kilometers from the frontier station of Manzhouli, where 290,000 metric tonnes were extracted annually. Xing'an was also a trade zone between Manchukuo, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and Soviet-dominated

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

References

The Mongols of Manchuria: Their Tribal Divisions, Geographical Distribution, Historical Relations with Manchus and Chinese, and Present Political Problems. by Owen Lattimore　Pacific Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Sep., 1935), pp. 367–371

External links

Map of Eastern Xingan province of ManchukuoMap of Western Xingan province of ManchukuoMap of Northern Xingan province of ManchukuoMap of Southern Xingan province of Manchukuo
{{coord missing, Inner Mongolia Provinces of the Republic of China (1912–1949) Geography of Inner Mongolia History of Inner Mongolia Subdivisions of Manchukuo

Administration

History

Economy

See also

References

External links