# Yopurga County

Yopurga County (Uyghur: يوپۇرغا ناھىيىسى) is a county in northern Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. More than 96% of the residents of the county are Uyghurs and live around oases at the western edge of the desolate Taklamakan Desert. The county is bordered to the north by Jiashi County, to the east by Maralbexi County, to the west by Shule County, to the southwest by Yengisar County and to the south by Yarkant County.

## Name

Yopurga County is named for the Yopurga River.

## History

In the Qing Dynasty, the area was part of Shule as Yopurga Zhuang (岳普尔湖庄).
In 1940, Yopurga Shezhiju (岳普湖設治局) was created from portions of Shule County, Yengisar County, and Jiashi County. In 1943, Yopurga was made a county.
On October 20, 2014, Terim (Tieremu) Township became Terim Town.
On July 24, 2015, Yekshenbebazar (Yekexian Baibazha) was changed from a township to a town.

## Geography

Dawakol (Dawakun) National Desert Park (达瓦昆沙漠旅游风景区) is located in Yopurga County.

## Climate

Climate data for Yopurga, elevation 1,206 m (3,957 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 21.0 (69.8) | 19.9 (67.8) | 30.8 (87.4) | 35.5 (95.9) | 37.3 (99.1) | 39.1 (102.4) | 41.0 (105.8) | 41.5 (106.7) | 35.7 (96.3) | 30.6 (87.1) | 26.3 (79.3) | 19.5 (67.1) | 41.5 (106.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 0.8 (33.4) | 7.1 (44.8) | 16.5 (61.7) | 24.5 (76.1) | 28.6 (83.5) | 32.2 (90.0) | 33.7 (92.7) | 32.4 (90.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 21.6 (70.9) | 12.2 (54.0) | 2.9 (37.2) | 20.1 (68.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −5.7 (21.7) | 0.3 (32.5) | 9.2 (48.6) | 16.6 (61.9) | 20.7 (69.3) | 24.2 (75.6) | 25.6 (78.1) | 24.2 (75.6) | 19.7 (67.5) | 12.4 (54.3) | 3.8 (38.8) | −3.6 (25.5) | 12.3 (54.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −11.3 (11.7) | −5.8 (21.6) | 2.3 (36.1) | 9.1 (48.4) | 13.4 (56.1) | 16.8 (62.2) | 18.4 (65.1) | 17.3 (63.1) | 12.7 (54.9) | 5.2 (41.4) | −2.6 (27.3) | −8.7 (16.3) | 5.6 (42.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −25.3 (−13.5) | −25.9 (−14.6) | −9.2 (15.4) | −2.1 (28.2) | 2.5 (36.5) | 6.4 (43.5) | 10.2 (50.4) | 9.3 (48.7) | 2.7 (36.9) | −4.8 (23.4) | −15.0 (5.0) | −23.2 (−9.8) | −25.9 (−14.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 2.1 (0.08) | 3.2 (0.13) | 4.3 (0.17) | 4.2 (0.17) | 12.6 (0.50) | 11.0 (0.43) | 14.9 (0.59) | 12.2 (0.48) | 7.5 (0.30) | 3.6 (0.14) | 2.0 (0.08) | 1.6 (0.06) | 79.2 (3.13) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 2.1 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 29.9 |
| Average snowy days | 5.8 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 4.6 | 14.7 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 66 | 56 | 43 | 35 | 40 | 41 | 47 | 52 | 54 | 56 | 59 | 69 | 52 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 150.3 | 158.3 | 191.0 | 222.8 | 278.5 | 320.8 | 324.2 | 295.7 | 264.6 | 255.4 | 200.6 | 151.7 | 2,813.9 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 49 | 51 | 51 | 55 | 62 | 72 | 72 | 71 | 72 | 75 | 68 | 52 | 63 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## Administrative divisions

Yopurga County included 4 towns and 5 townships:
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Administrative division code | Notes |
| Towns |||||||
| Yopurga Town | 岳普湖镇 | Yuèpǔhú Zhèn | يوپۇرغا بازىرى | yopurgha baziri | 653128100 | |
| Eshme Town | 艾西曼镇 (艾西买镇) | Àixīmàn Zhèn (Àixīmǎi Zhèn) | ئەشمە بازىرى | Eshme baziri | 653128101 | |
| Terim Town | 铁热木镇 | Tiěrèmù Zhèn | تېرىم بازىرى | tërim baziri | 653128102 | Formerly Terim Township (تېرىم بازىرى / 铁热木乡) |
| Yekshenbebazar Town | 也克先拜巴扎镇 | Yěkèxiānbàibāzhā Zhèn | يەكشەنبەبازار بازىرى | yekshenbebazar baziri | 653128103 | formerly Yekshenbebazar Township (يەكشەنبەبازار بازىرى / 也克先拜巴扎乡) |
| Townships |||||||
| Yopurga Township | 岳普湖乡 | Yuèpǔhú Xiāng | يوپۇرغا يېزىسى | yopurgha yëzisi | 653128200 | |
| Aqqik Township | 阿其克乡 | Āqíkè Xiāng | ئاچچىق يېزىسى | Achchiq yëzisi | 653128203 | |
| Siyek Township | 色也克乡 | Sèyěkè Xiāng | سىيەك يېزىسى | siyek yëzisi | 653128204 | |
| Bayawat Township | 巴依阿瓦提乡 | Bāyī'āwǎtí Xiāng | بايئاۋات يېزىسى | bay'awat yëzisi | 653128206 | |
| Axunluqum Township | 阿洪鲁库木乡 | Āhónglǔkùmù Xiāng | ئاخۇنلۇقۇم يېزىسى | Axunluqum yëzisi | 653128207 | |

## Economy

Agricultural products include wheat, cotton, corn, muskmelon, and oilseed products. Beekeeping is relatively developed. Herding is important, primarily sheep herding. Industries include cotton and hemp processing, food and oil processing, and concrete.
Farmers in the county raise donkeys for meat, milk and donkey-hide gelatin.
In July 1953, Yopurga County was reported to have 87,000 mou of winter and spring wheat.

## Demographics

In 1997, Uyghurs made up 94.6% of the county's population.
According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 130,000.
As of 2015, the population of Yopurga County was 96.1% Uyghur and 3.9% Han Chinese. As of 2015, 167,860 of the 177,955 residents of the county were Uyghur, 9,801 were Han Chinese and 294 were from other ethnic groups.
As of 1999, 94.68% of the population of Yopurga (Yuepuhu) County was Uyghur and 5.28% of the population was Han Chinese.

## Historical maps

Historical English-language maps including modern-day Yopurga County area:
* Map including Yopurga (labeled as YÜEH-P'U-HU (YUPOGHA)) and surrounding region from the International Map of the World (AMS, 1966)
* Map including Yopurga (labeled as YÜEH-P'U-HU) (DMA, 1974)
* From the Operational Navigation Chart; map including Yopurga (Yüeh-p'u-hu) (DMA, 1980)
* Map including Yopurga (Yüeh-p'u-hu) (DMA, 1984)