# Ruoqiang County

Ruoqiang County (Chinese: 若羌县) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Qakilik County (Uyghur: چاقىلىق ناھىيىسى; Chinese: 卡克里克县), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China under the administration of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. It covers an area of 198,318 square kilometres (76,571 sq mi) (about twice the size of Zhejiang province and similar to Kyrgyzstan or Senegal), making it the largest county-level division in the country.
The county seat is in Ruoqiang Town. This is the location which less-detailed maps will label as "Ruoqiang". It lies at an altitude of 848 metres (2,782 ft).

## History

The ancient settlement of Charklik was located in what is today Ruoqiang County.
The Charkhlik Revolt took place here in 1935 when Uyghurs revolted against the Hui-dominated Tunganistan, which was controlled by the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army). The Uyghurs were defeated.
The county was established in 1902 as 婼羌 (Ruòqiāng, "recalcitrant Qiang"). In 1959, the less-offensive written form of "若羌" ("like the Qiang") was adopted. The Uyghur name of the county, "Çakilik", is transliterated in Chinese as "卡克里克" (Qiǎkèlǐkè).
On July 24, 2015, Tieganlike was changed from a township to a town.

## Geography

Ruoqiang County ranges in latitude from 36° 00' to 41° 23' N and in longitude from 86° 45 to 93° 45' E. It borders Qiemo County to the west, Yuli County, Piqan County, and Kumul to the north, the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai to the east, and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south.
The populated areas are located mostly along the northern foothills of the Altyn-Tagh mountain range. North of this strip of irrigated agricultural settlement is the Taklamakan Desert, south, the Altyn-Tagh and Kunlun Mountains.
The well known Lop Lake, these days usually dry, is located in the northeastern part of the county - the section officially known as Luobu Po Town (罗布泊镇), i.e., Lop Lake Town.
The southern part of the county (administratively, Qimantag Township (祁曼塔格乡)), is mountainous. The highest point in Qinghai, Bukadaban Feng, is located on the border of Qinghai and Ruoqiang County. The high plateau between the Altyn-Tagh and the main Kunlun range (which includes the Ulugh Muztagh) is known as the Kumkol Basin: an endorheic basin, where several saline lakes are found. Part of Altun Shan National Nature Reserve is located in Qimantag Township, in southern Ruoqiang County.
The three main lakes in the Kumkol Basin are Lake Aqqikkol (also known as Achak-kum; 阿其克库勒湖; 37°05′N 88°25′E﻿ / ﻿37.083°N 88.417°E﻿ / 37.083; 88.417, 4,250 m (13,940 ft) elevation), Lake Ayakum (阿牙克库木湖); 37°30′N 89°30′E﻿ / ﻿37.500°N 89.500°E﻿ / 37.500; 89.500; elevation 3,876 m (12,717 ft)), and Lake Jingyu (36°21′N 89°24′E﻿ / ﻿36.350°N 89.400°E﻿ / 36.350; 89.400, 260 km$^2$ (100 sq mi), 4,708 m (15,446 ft) elevation). These lakes are among the few noticeable bodies of water in this extremely arid area; the area around them is officially protected as the Altun Shan Nature Reserve.

### Climate

Ruoqiang has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk) with extreme seasonal variation in temperature. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −7.4 °C (18.7 °F) in January to 27.5 °C (81.5 °F), and the annual mean is 11.7 °C (53.1 °F). Precipitation totals only 29 millimetres (1.1 in) annually, and mostly falls in summer. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 63% in March to 82% in October, the area receives close to 3,100 hours of bright sunshine annually.
Climate data for Ruoqiang, elevation 888 m (2,913 ft), (1991–2020 normals) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.6 (30.9) | 6.9 (44.4) | 16.8 (62.2) | 25.2 (77.4) | 30.3 (86.5) | 34.5 (94.1) | 36.3 (97.3) | 34.9 (94.8) | 29.9 (85.8) | 21.6 (70.9) | 10.8 (51.4) | 1.0 (33.8) | 20.6 (69.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −7.5 (18.5) | −0.9 (30.4) | 8.2 (46.8) | 16.4 (61.5) | 21.4 (70.5) | 26.1 (79.0) | 27.9 (82.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 19.8 (67.6) | 10.9 (51.6) | 2.2 (36.0) | −5.7 (21.7) | 12.1 (53.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −13.0 (8.6) | −7.4 (18.7) | 0.3 (32.5) | 8.0 (46.4) | 12.6 (54.7) | 17.6 (63.7) | 19.7 (67.5) | 17.7 (63.9) | 11.6 (52.9) | 3.2 (37.8) | −3.7 (25.3) | −10.6 (12.9) | 4.7 (40.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 1.3 (0.05) | 0.5 (0.02) | 0.6 (0.02) | 1.0 (0.04) | 3.3 (0.13) | 8.2 (0.32) | 9.5 (0.37) | 6.4 (0.25) | 1.2 (0.05) | 0.4 (0.02) | 0.6 (0.02) | 1.5 (0.06) | 34.5 (1.35) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 13.9 |
| Average snowy days | 3.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 8.2 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 58 | 43 | 29 | 26 | 31 | 36 | 40 | 42 | 45 | 48 | 51 | 60 | 42 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 190.7 | 192.0 | 232.5 | 253.5 | 284.5 | 283.2 | 280.9 | 279.3 | 278.1 | 274.8 | 219.4 | 180.2 | 2,949.1 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 63 | 62 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 64 | 63 | 67 | 76 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 67 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## Administrative divisions

The county is made up of five towns, three townships and other areas:
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Administrative division code |
| Towns |||||||||
| Ruoqiang Town (Qakilik Town) | 若羌镇 | Ruòqiāng Zhèn | چاقىلىق بازىرى | chaqiliq baziri | 652824100 |
| Yitimbulak Town (Yitunbulake, Yetimbulak) | 依吞布拉克镇 | Yītūnbùlākè Zhèn | يېتىمبۇلاق بازىرى | yëtimbulaq baziri | 652824101 |
| Lopnur Town | 罗布泊镇 | Luóbùpō Zhèn | لوپنۇر كۆلى بازىرى (لوپكۆل بازىرى) | lopnur köli baziri (lopköl baziri) | 652824102 |
| Waxxari Town | 瓦石峡镇 | Wǎshíxiá Zhèn | ۋاششەرى بازىرى | washsheri baziri | 652824103 |
| Tikanlik Town | 铁干里克镇 | Tiěgànlǐkè Zhèn | تىكەنلىك بازىرى | tikenlik baziri | 652824104 |
| Townships |||||||||
| Utam Township | 吾塔木乡 | Wútǎmù Xiāng | ئۇتام يېزىسى | Utam yëzisi | 652824201 |
| Tomürlük Township | 铁木里克乡 | Tiěmùlǐkè Xiāng | تۆمۈرۈاك يېزىسى | tömürüak yëzisi | 652824203 |
| Qimantag Township | 祁曼塔格乡 | Qímàntǎgé Xiāng | چىمەنتاغ يېزىسى | chimentagh yëzisi | 652824204 |
* Map including the southern Ruoqiang County area from the International Map of the World (1975)
* Map including Ruoqiang (labeled as Ruoqiang (Jo-ch'iang)) and surrounding region (DMA, 1980)
* Map including Charkhlik (CIA, 1950)
* Map including Ruoqiang (labeled as ERH-CH'IANG (CHARKHLIK) (JO-CH'IANG)) (1971)

## Economy

As of 1885, there was about 2,740 acres (18,113 mu) of cultivated land in Qakilik.

## Demographics

As of 2015, 18,983 (55.8%) of the 34,020 residents of the county were Han Chinese, 13,328 (39.2%) were Uyghur and 1,709 were from other ethnic groups.
As of 2005, the county had a population of 31,877, of which 18,957 (59.5%) were of Han ethnicity, while Uyghurs numbered 11,761 (36.9%).
As of 1999, 58.72% of the population of the county was Han Chinese and 38.2% of the population was Uyghur.
As of 1997, several township-level divisions had a majority or plurality of Uyghur residents including Wutamu Township (62.3%), Tieganlike Township (61.3%), Ruoqiang Town (57.9%), and Waxxari (Washixia) Township (43.9%).
The proportion of nationalities in Ruoqiang (Qakilik) County, 2018
Nationality
Percentage
Han People
55.5%
Uyghurs
39.5%
Hui People
3.5%
Mongols
0.1%
Others
1.4%
Source of the population statistics : :

## Transportation
### Road

* China National Highway 218
* China National Highway 315
* G0612 Expressway connecting the county to Hotan and Kashgar to the West, and Golmud in Qinghai to the East
* G0711 Expressway connecting the county to Korla and Ürümqi to the North

### Airport

* Ruoqiang Loulan Airport

### Railway

* Golmud-Korla Railway
* Hotan–Ruoqiang railway (Chinese: 和若铁路) serves Ruoqiang with the latter as the terminus. Hotan–Ruoqiang also joins the Taklimakan Desert railway loop, together with sections of the Southern Xinjiang railway, Kashgar–Hotan railway, and Golmud–Korla railway, to form a railway link surrounding the Taklamakan Desert.