# Barkam (town)

Barkam (simplified Chinese: 马尔康镇; traditional Chinese: 馬爾康鎮; pinyin: Mǎ'ěrkāng Zhèn, Standard Tibetan: འབར་ཁམས་གྲོང་རྡལ།, romanized: ʼbar khams grong rdal, Qiang: Bbadh kangw seqea) is a town in and the seat of the county-level city of Barkam, in the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, in the northwest of Sichuan province, China.

## Toponymy

Barkam comes from the Tibetan "place of strong fire" and, by extension, "place of prosperity".

## History

On December 18, 2019, the Department of Civil Affairs of Sichuan Province approved the merger of the now-defunct town of Zhuokeji [zh] into the town of Barkam.

## Climate

Due to its elevation, Barkam lies in the transition between a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) and humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), with strong monsoonal influences; winters are frosty and summers warm with frequent rain. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −0.5 °C (31.1 °F) in December and January to 16.4 °C (61.5 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 8.75 °C (47.7 °F). Nearly two-thirds of the annual precipitation of 784 mm (30.9 in) occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 36% in June to 65% in December, the town receives 2,133 hours of bright sunshine annually. Diurnal temperature variation is large, averaging 16.0 °C (28.8 °F) annually.
Climate data for Barkam, elevation 2,664 m (8,740 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 22.1 (71.8) | 24.8 (76.6) | 26.8 (80.2) | 31.3 (88.3) | 34.7 (94.5) | 35.7 (96.3) | 35.5 (95.9) | 36.3 (97.3) | 32.4 (90.3) | 30.6 (87.1) | 23.3 (73.9) | 19.3 (66.7) | 36.3 (97.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) | 14.4 (57.9) | 17.0 (62.6) | 19.9 (67.8) | 22.5 (72.5) | 23.9 (75.0) | 25.6 (78.1) | 25.8 (78.4) | 23.1 (73.6) | 18.8 (65.8) | 15.3 (59.5) | 11.0 (51.8) | 19.0 (66.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.2 (31.6) | 3.4 (38.1) | 6.8 (44.2) | 10.1 (50.2) | 12.9 (55.2) | 15.1 (59.2) | 16.6 (61.9) | 16.3 (61.3) | 13.7 (56.7) | 9.2 (48.6) | 4.1 (39.4) | −0.2 (31.6) | 9.0 (48.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −7.3 (18.9) | −4.0 (24.8) | −0.3 (31.5) | 3.2 (37.8) | 6.6 (43.9) | 10.0 (50.0) | 11.3 (52.3) | 10.9 (51.6) | 8.8 (47.8) | 4.1 (39.4) | −2.3 (27.9) | −6.8 (19.8) | 2.9 (37.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −16.0 (3.2) | −13.6 (7.5) | −12.6 (9.3) | −6.2 (20.8) | −2.2 (28.0) | 0.1 (32.2) | 2.2 (36.0) | 1.5 (34.7) | −0.6 (30.9) | −5.7 (21.7) | −10.7 (12.7) | −16.6 (2.1) | −16.6 (2.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 3.3 (0.13) | 7.8 (0.31) | 27.4 (1.08) | 57.4 (2.26) | 115.6 (4.55) | 164.4 (6.47) | 130.0 (5.12) | 105.2 (4.14) | 122.2 (4.81) | 78.1 (3.07) | 11.5 (0.45) | 3.1 (0.12) | 826 (32.51) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 2.5 | 5.6 | 10.5 | 14.9 | 20.5 | 22.7 | 19.6 | 17.7 | 18.9 | 16.3 | 5.4 | 2.2 | 156.8 |
| Average snowy days | 4.1 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 26.9 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 45 | 44 | 50 | 56 | 65 | 74 | 75 | 74 | 77 | 74 | 59 | 50 | 62 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 196.8 | 175.6 | 184.1 | 185.1 | 181.6 | 147.5 | 167.8 | 173.6 | 155.9 | 156.0 | 186.7 | 200.7 | 2,111.4 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 61 | 56 | 49 | 47 | 42 | 35 | 39 | 43 | 43 | 45 | 60 | 64 | 49 |
| Source 1: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weather China ||||||||||||||

## Administrative divisions

The town of Barkam administers the following 3 residential communities (Chinese: 社区; pinyin: Shè Qū) and 11 administrative villages (Chinese: 行政村; pinyin: Xíngzhèng Cūn):
* Majiang Community (Chinese: 马江社区)
* Meigu Community (Chinese: 美谷社区)
* Dasa Community (Chinese: 达萨社区)
* Adi Village (Chinese: 阿底村)
* Chabei Village (Chinese: 查北村)
* Muye Village (Chinese: 牧业村)
* E'erya Village (Chinese: 俄尔雅村)
* Mola Village (Chinese: 莫拉村)
* Yingboluo Village (Chinese: 英波洛村)
* Benzhen Village (Chinese: 本真村)
* Dengjia Village (Chinese: 邓家村)
* Nazu Village (Chinese: 纳足村)
* Xisuo Village (Chinese: 西索村)
* Chami Village (Chinese: 查米村)

## Demographics

As of the 2010 Chinese Census, before it absorbed the now-defunct town of Zhuokeji [zh], Barkam had a population of 29,535. The combined population of Barkam and Zhuokeji totaled 30,547. Barkam had a population of 25,337 as of the 2000 Chinese Census.