Illi

Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture (伊犁哈薩克自治州 Pinyin: Yili Kazakzu Zizhizhou), in northernmost Xinjiang, is the only autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China.

Table of contents

1 Geography and coordinates 2 History 3 Subdivisions 4 Demographics 5 External links

Geography and coordinates

• Area: 273,200 km²
• Population: 3,880,000 (2000)
• Capital: Gulja (Yining)
• Geographic coordinates: 79º50'30″ - 84º56'50″ East, 42º14'16″ - 44º50'30″ North

It is west of Mongolia, south of Russia and east of Kazakhstan. Its foreign boundary is 2,000 km. Its 8 functioning ports are:

• Huorguosi (霍爾果斯): directly controlled by Illi; a national port of the first class (國家一類口岸)
• Duolata (都拉塔): directly controlled by Illi
• Muzharte (木紮爾特): directly controlled by Illi; a national port of the first class
• Baketu (巴克圖) of Tacheng; a national port of the first class
• Takesheken (塔克什肯) of Altay
• Hongshanzui (紅山嘴) of Altay
• Aheimubieke (阿黑木別克) of Altay
• Jeminay (吉木乃) of Altay

History

Before the Qin Dynasty, Illi was part of the state of Wusun, a tributary of the Xiongnu. Wusun was replaced by Western Tujue Khnate (西突厥汗國) in 552. During the Tang Dynasty, the khnate was Anxi Daduhufu (安西大都護府) of the Tang Empire. It became Chahetai Khnate (察合台汗國) during the Yuan Dynasty. On January 7, 1912, Yang Cuanxu (楊纘緒) of Illi occupied the Huiyuan (惠遠城) and shot the last Qing general of Illi, Zhirui (志銳).

In July 1945, Jinhe, Bole and Quanxi (精河、博樂、溫泉) of Illi were made into a new autonomous prefecture now not part of Illi: Bortala (博爾塔拉). In 1949, Illi was made a zhuanqu (專區) of Xinjiang, with one city and 9 counties, and was upgraded to a city in 1952. On November 27, 1954, the Illi Autonomous Prefecture was established to include the prefectures of Illi, Altay, and Tacheng. The Illi Prefecture was abolished in 1955. Its 1 city and 9 counties are now under the direct control of the autonomous prefecture.

Subdivisions

Ili's primary subdivisions include Tacheng (塔城地區) and Altay (阿勒泰地區) Prefectures, Illi also directly controls 2 county-level cities, 7 counties, and 1 autonomous county. (see Political divisions of China#Levels).

Some official placenames below are not in Chinese.

{| border=1 cellpadding=5 ! Official name !! Hanzi !! Area !! Population !! |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Tacheng Prefecture ||塔城地區|| 98824 || 910,000 || |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Altay Prefecture ||阿勒泰地區|| 118015 || 590,000 || |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Guljia City || 伊寧市|| 575||340,000 || |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Kuytun City ||奎屯市||1036 || 270,000|| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Guljia County ||伊寧縣||4684 || 390,000|| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Huocheng County ||霍城縣|| 5428|| 340,000|| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Tokkuztara County ||鞏留縣|| 4323|| 150,000|| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Xinyuan County ||新源縣|| 6818||280,000 || |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Zhaosu County ||昭蘇縣|| 11111|| 150,000|| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Tekes County ||特克斯縣|| 7772|| 150,000|| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Nilka County ||尼勒克縣||10145 || 150,000 || |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Qapqal Xibe
Autonomous County ||察布查爾
錫伯自治縣 || 4469 || 160,000 || |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |}

Demographics

• The Kazakh: 25.4%
• The Han: 45.2%
• The Uygurs: 15.9%
• The Hui: 8.3%
• The Mongols: 1.69%
• The Xibe: 0.83%

External links

• Official site (in Simplified Chinese)
• Subdivision info (in Simplified Chinese)