# Qinggil County

Qinggil County (Uyghur), also Chinggil County, Qinghe County, is a county of Altay Prefecture in northeastern Xinjiang, China, bordering Bayan-Ölgii Province and Khovd Province in Mongolia to the east. It has an area of 15,722 km$^2$ (6,070 sq mi) with a population of 60,000. Qinghe was the site of a meteorite impact in 1898 and a Mongolian–Chinese border clash in the spring of 1944.

## Name

Qinggil County is named for the Qinggil River (青格里河), a tributary of the Ulungur River. 'Qinggil' is from Mongolian and means 'beautiful and crystal clear'.

## History

In 1941/4, Qinggil County was established.
In 2012, Araltobe Township was made a town.

## Administrative divisions

Qinggil County is divided into 5 towns, 3 townships.
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Kazakh (Arabic script) | Kazakh (Cyrillic script) | Administrative division code |
| Towns ||||||||
| Qinggil Town | 青河镇 | Qīnghé Zhèn | چىڭگىل بازىرى | chinggil baziri | شىڭگىل قالاشىعى | Шіңгіл қалашығы | 654325100 |
| Taykeshken Town | 塔克什肯镇 | Tǎkèshíkěn Zhèn | تاشقىن بازىرى | tashqin baziri | تايكەشكەن قالاشىعى | Тайкешкен қалашығы | 654325101 |
| Araltobe Town | 阿热勒托别镇 | Ārèlètuōbié Zhèn | ئارالتۆپە بازىرى | Araltöpe baziri | ارالتوبە قالاشىعى | Аралтөбе қалашығы | 654325102 |
| Aqdala Town | 阿格达拉镇 | Āgédálā Zhèn | ئاقدالا بازىرى | Aqdala baziri | اقدالا قالاشىعى | Ақдала қалашығы | 654325103 |
| Aral Town | 阿热勒镇 | Ārèlè Zhèn | ئارال بازىرى | Aral baziri | ارال قالاشىعى | Арал қалашығы | 654325104 |
| Townships ||||||||
| Sartoqay Township | 萨尔托海乡 | Sà'ěrtuōhǎi Xiāng | سارتوقاي يېزىسى | sartoqay yëzisi | سارىتوعاي اۋىلى | Сарытоғай ауылы | 654325202 |
| Qagan Gol Township | 查干郭勒乡 | Chágànguōlè Xiāng | چاغانغول يېزىسى | chaghanghol yëzisi | شاعانعول اۋىلى | Шағанғол ауылы | 654325203 |
| Agax Obo Township | 阿尕什敖包乡 | Āgǎshí'áobāo Xiāng | ئاغاش ئوبا يېزىسى | Aghash Oba yëzisi | اعاشوبا اۋىلى | Ағашоба ауылы | 654325204 |

## Climate

Climate data for Qinggil, elevation 1,218 m (3,996 ft), (1991–2020 normals) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −12.5 (9.5) | −7.1 (19.2) | 2.2 (36.0) | 13.6 (56.5) | 20.1 (68.2) | 25.5 (77.9) | 27.3 (81.1) | 26.0 (78.8) | 20.1 (68.2) | 11.4 (52.5) | −0.8 (30.6) | −10.4 (13.3) | 9.6 (49.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −21.4 (−6.5) | −16.3 (2.7) | −5.5 (22.1) | 6.6 (43.9) | 13.0 (55.4) | 18.5 (65.3) | 20.2 (68.4) | 18.2 (64.8) | 11.7 (53.1) | 3.4 (38.1) | −8.5 (16.7) | −18.4 (−1.1) | 1.8 (35.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −27.4 (−17.3) | −23.3 (−9.9) | −12.2 (10.0) | 0.1 (32.2) | 5.7 (42.3) | 11.0 (51.8) | 12.9 (55.2) | 10.5 (50.9) | 4.3 (39.7) | −2.9 (26.8) | −13.8 (7.2) | −23.9 (−11.0) | −4.9 (23.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 10.3 (0.41) | 7.1 (0.28) | 9.0 (0.35) | 13.1 (0.52) | 15.4 (0.61) | 26.6 (1.05) | 29.2 (1.15) | 20.1 (0.79) | 13.7 (0.54) | 13.3 (0.52) | 22.8 (0.90) | 13.7 (0.54) | 194.3 (7.66) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 5.7 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 6.3 | 6.9 | 7.7 | 6.4 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 7.2 | 6.9 | 71.5 |
| Average snowy days | 7.3 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 44.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 74 | 73 | 65 | 49 | 44 | 47 | 51 | 50 | 50 | 59 | 72 | 75 | 59 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 182.5 | 205.7 | 266.1 | 280.0 | 316.7 | 317.9 | 316.5 | 304.2 | 275.7 | 233.3 | 173.4 | 157.1 | 3,029.1 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 65 | 69 | 71 | 68 | 68 | 67 | 67 | 71 | 75 | 71 | 63 | 59 | 68 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## Economy

Qinggil County has forests as well as coal and mica. Industries include mining, livestock product processing, wool-spinning, leather-making and others. Animal husbandry is common.

## Demographics

As of 2019, 76.47% of the residents of the county were Kazakh, 18.27% were Han Chinese, and 5.26% were from other ethnic groups.
As of 2015, 50,091 of the 65,290 residents of the county were Kazakh, 11,892 were Han Chinese and 3,307 were from other ethnic groups.
As of 1997, 75.2% of the population of Qinggil County was Kazakh.
The proportion of nationalities in Qinggil County, 2018
Nationality
Percentage
Kazakhs
76.8%
Han People
18.1%
Hui People
2.1%
Mongols
1.4%
Uyghurs
0.9%
Others
0.7%
Source of the population statistics : :

## Wildlife

The Sino-Mongolian beaver, Castor fiber birulai, is found only in the basin of the Ulungur River. The population is considered endangered. The Bulgan Beaver Nature Reserve (Chinese: 布尔根河河狸自然保护区; 46°12′00″N 90°45′00″E﻿ / ﻿46.20000°N 90.75000°E﻿ / 46.20000; 90.75000) has been established on the Bulgan River (a tributary of the Ulungur River) in Qinggil (Qinghe) County in 1980 to protect the creatures.