# Yining County

Yining County (Chinese: 伊宁县) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Gulja County (Uyghur: غۇلجا ناھىيىسى; Chinese: 固勒扎县), is a county within the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. The county seat is in the town of Jëlilyüzi.
Yining County does not include the adjacent city of Yining, which is a county-level administrative unit in its own right.
The county land area is 4486 km², with the population of 360,000 people as of 2004.
A larger area (around 4580 km²) and population (400,000) was reported for the county 2000; this decrease and the corresponding increase of area and population for the City of Yining resulted from the transfer of the villages of Dadamtu (Uyghur: دادامتۇ, Дадамту; 达达木图; Dádámùtú) and Penjim (Uyghur: پەنجىم, Пәнҗим; 潘津; Pānjīn), with 100.45 km$^2$ (38.78 sq mi) of land, from the County to the City in 2004.

## Administrative divisions

Yining County is divided into 8 towns, 9 townships, 1 ethnic township.
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Administrative division code |
| Towns ||||||
| Jëlilyüzi Town | 吉里于孜镇 | Jílǐyúzī Zhèn | جېلىليۈزى بازىرى | jëlilyüzi baziri | 654021100 |
| Döngmazar Town | 墩麻扎镇 | Dūnmázhā Zhèn | دۆڭمازار بازىرى | döngmazar baziri | 654021101 |
| Yëngitam Town | 英塔木镇 | Yīngtǎmù Zhèn | يېڭىتام بازىرى | yëngitam baziri | 654021102 |
| Xudiyaryuzi Town | 胡地于孜镇 | Húdìyúzī Zhèn | خۇدىياريۈزى بازىرى | xudiyaryüzi baziri | 654021103 |
| Baytoqay Town | 巴依托海镇 | Bāyītuōhǎi Zhèn | بايتوقاي بازىرى | baytoqay baziri | 654021104 |
| Ara'östeng Town | 阿热吾斯塘镇 | Ārèwúsītáng Zhèn | ئارائۆستەڭ بازىرى | Ara'östeng baziri | 654021105 |
| Samyüzi Town | 萨木于孜镇 | Sàmùyúzī Zhèn | سامىيۈزى بازىرى | samiyüzi baziri | 654021106 |
| Qash Town | 喀什镇 | Kāshí Zhèn | قاش بازىرى | qash baziri | 654021107 |
| Uyghur Uchon Town | 维吾尔玉其温镇 | Wéiwú'ěryùqíwēn Zhèn | ئۇيغۇر ئۈچئون بازىرى | Uyghur Üch'on baziri | 654021108 |
| Onyar Town | 温亚尔镇 | Wēnyà'ěr Zhèn | ئونيار بازىرى | Onyar baziri | 654021109 |
| Townships ||||||
| Turpanyüzi Township | 吐鲁番于孜乡 | Tǔlǔfānyúzī Xiāng | تۇرپانيۈزى يېزىسى | turpanyüzi yëzisi | 654021201 |
| Qarayaghach Township | 喀拉亚尕奇乡 | Kālāyàgǎqí Xiāng | قاراياغاچ يېزىسى | qarayaghach yëzisi | 654021202 |
| Ugung Township | 武功乡 | Wǔgōng Xiāng | ئۇگۇڭ يېزىسى | Ugung yëzisi | 654021203 |
| Sadiqyüzi Township | 萨地克于孜乡 | Sàdìkèyúzī Xiāng | سادىقيۈزى يېزىسى | sadiqyüzi yëzisi | 654021204 |
| Mazar Township | 麻扎乡 | Mázhā Xiāng | مازار يېزىسى | mazar yëzisi | 654021212 |
| Ewliya Township | 阿乌利亚乡 | Āwūlìyǎ Xiāng | ئەۋلىيا يېزىسى | Ewliya yëzisi | 654021214 |
| Chuluqay Township | 曲鲁海乡 | Qūlǔhǎi Xiāng | چۇلۇقاي يېزىسى | chuluqay yëzisi | 654021215 |
| Ethnic township ||||||
| Uchon Hui Ethnic Township | 愉群翁回族乡 | Yúqúnwēng Huízú Xiāng | ئۈچئون خۇيزۇ يېزىسى | Üch'ün xuyzu yëzisi | 654021201 |
Other: Central Farm of 70th Regiment (兵团七十团中心团场)

## Climate

Climate data for Yining County, elevation 770 m (2,530 ft), (1991–2020 normals) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.7 (30.7) | 2.2 (36.0) | 11.3 (52.3) | 20.4 (68.7) | 24.9 (76.8) | 28.6 (83.5) | 30.6 (87.1) | 29.9 (85.8) | 25.6 (78.1) | 18.1 (64.6) | 8.8 (47.8) | 1.5 (34.7) | 16.8 (62.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.0 (21.2) | −3.0 (26.6) | 5.3 (41.5) | 13.3 (55.9) | 17.9 (64.2) | 21.7 (71.1) | 23.5 (74.3) | 22.5 (72.5) | 17.9 (64.2) | 10.6 (51.1) | 3.0 (37.4) | −3.5 (25.7) | 10.3 (50.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −10.2 (13.6) | −7.2 (19.0) | 0.3 (32.5) | 7.3 (45.1) | 11.5 (52.7) | 15.3 (59.5) | 16.9 (62.4) | 15.6 (60.1) | 11.0 (51.8) | 4.9 (40.8) | −1.0 (30.2) | −7.4 (18.7) | 4.8 (40.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 26.1 (1.03) | 25.9 (1.02) | 27.0 (1.06) | 42.3 (1.67) | 35.8 (1.41) | 31.1 (1.22) | 29.5 (1.16) | 24.7 (0.97) | 17.0 (0.67) | 30.9 (1.22) | 43.2 (1.70) | 34.0 (1.34) | 367.5 (14.47) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.1 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 9.6 | 8.4 | 6.6 | 5.0 | 6.1 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 94.4 |
| Average snowy days | 9.8 | 9.4 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 10.5 | 42.9 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 71 | 71 | 62 | 52 | 52 | 54 | 54 | 52 | 51 | 60 | 70 | 73 | 60 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 147.4 | 159.3 | 212.2 | 242.5 | 292.3 | 300.0 | 319.5 | 304.5 | 265.9 | 220.4 | 144.9 | 131.8 | 2,740.7 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 50 | 53 | 56 | 59 | 64 | 65 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 66 | 51 | 48 | 61 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## History

The territories were inhabited by Turkic tribes from early history. The name Kuldga was first mentioned at the period of Turkik Khanate. When the Uyghur tribes, led by Pen Tekin, left to the west, part of the Yaglakar tribe, which was part of the Uyghur tribal union, left with them.
Chagatai Khan, the son of Genghis Khan, placed the capital of his possessions here. These lands were ruled by the Dzungar until they were conquered in the middle of the 18th century by the Qing during the so-called third Oirat-Manchu war. For a long time, Gulja was the de facto administrative and military capital of Qing Xinjiang (literally "New Frontiers"). The county was created in 1888 and was originally known as Ningyuan (宁远; 寧遠; Níngyuǎn) County. It received its present name in 1914.
In 1952, the city of Yining was separated from Yining County into a separate county-level administrative unit.