Xinjiang

Xinjiang (Uyghur: شىنجاڭ‎‎, ULY:  Shinjang ;  Mandarin pronunciation:  [ɕíntɕjɑ́ŋ]; Chinese: 新疆; pinyin: Xīnjiāng), officially Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,[5] is an autonomous region of China in the northwest of the country. It is the largest Chinese administrative division, the 8th largest country subdivision in the world, spanning over 1.6 million km2 and the most populous amongst the ten largest national subdivisions. It contains the disputed territory of Aksai Chin administered by China. Xinjiang contains China's smaller border with Russia (which is 40 km/24 mi long; the remainder of the China-Russia border is 3,605 km/2,240 mi long, and is taken up by the Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang provinces), but its other international borders are with Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It is also bordered, to the south, by Tibet, easily its longest border, when including the Eastern Tibetan disputed territories. It has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.

It is home to a number of ethnic groups including the Uyghur, Han, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Hui, Kyrgyz, and Mongols.[6] More than a dozen autonomous prefectures and counties for minorities are in Xinjiang. Older English-language reference works often refer to the area as Chinese Turkestan.[7] Xinjiang is divided into the Dzungarian Basin in the north and the Tarim Basin in the south by a mountain range. Only about 4.3% of Xinjiang's land area is fit for human habitation.[8]

With a documented history of at least 2,500 years, a succession of peoples and empires has vied for control over all or parts of this territory. Before the 21st century, all or part of the region has been ruled or controlled by various states. Since 1949, it has been part of the People's Republic of China.

All sources from Wikipedia.