# Xinyuan County

Xinyuan County (Chinese: 新源县) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Künas County (Uyghur: كۈنەس ناھىيىسى; Chinese: 巩乃斯县; pinyin: Gǒngnǎisī xiàn), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It contains an area of 7,581 km$^2$. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 290,000. The county is served by Xinyuan Nalati Airport.

## Name

The county's original name Künes was changed into Xinyuan in 1946 after the county established its seat on the Künes River (Gǒngnǎisī Hé) upstream. "Xinyuan" means "New Headstream" in Chinese.

## Administrative divisions

Xinyuan County is divided into 9 towns and 2 townships.
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Kazakh (Arabic script) | Number of communities | Population (thousand) | Land area (km2) |
| Towns |||||||
| Künes Town | 新源镇 | Xīnyuán Zhèn | كۈنەس بازىرى | künes baziri | كۇنەس قالاشىعى | 10 | 51.5 | 270 |
| Zëkti Town | 则克台镇 | Zékètái Zhèn | زېكتى بازىرى | zëkti baziri | زەكتى قالاشىعى | 6 | 24.6 | 503 |
| Araltope Town | 阿热勒托别镇 | Ārèlètuōbié Zhèn | ئارالتۆپە بازىرى | Araltöpe baziri | ارالتوبە قالاشىعى | 7 | 27 | 897.7 |
| Taldi Town | 塔勒德镇 | Tǎlèdé Zhèn | تالدى بازىرى | taldi baziri | تالدى قالاشىعى | 11 | 23.4 | 1,164.3 |
| Narat Town | 那拉提镇 | Nàlātí Zhèn | نارات بازىرى | narat baziri | نارات قالاشىعى | 9 | 27.6 | 1,984 |
| Shorbulaq Town | 肖尔布拉克镇 | Xiào'ěrbùlākè Zhèn | شوربۇلاق بازىرى | shorbulaq baziri | سوربۇلاق قالاشىعى | 8 | 9.3 | 268 |
| Qarabora Town | 喀拉布拉镇 | Kālābùlā Zhèn | قارابورا بازىرى | qarabora baziri | قارابۇرا قالاشىعى | 8 | 20.6 | 633.3 |
| Almali Town | 阿勒玛勒镇 | Ālèmǎlè Zhèn | ئالمالى بازىرى | Almali baziri | المالى قالاشىعى | 5 | 16 | 72 |
| Kengsu Town | 坎苏镇 | Kǎnsū Zhèn | كەڭسۇ بازىرى | kengsu baziri | كەڭسۋ قالاشىعى | 5 | 10.9 | 374.3 |
| Townships |||||||
| Beshtope Township | 别斯托别乡 | Biésītuōbié Xiāng | بەشتۆپە يېزىسى | beshtöpe yëzisi | بەستوبە قالاشىعى | 15 | 28.9 | 783 |
| Turgen Township | 吐尔根乡 | Tǔ'ěrgēn Xiāng | تۈرگېن يېزىسى | türgën yëzisi | تۇرگەن قالاشىعى | 3 | 11.5 | 200 |

## Demographics

Breakdown of nationalities in Xinyuan County
Nationality
Percentage
Kazakhs
47.36%
Han
33.18%
Uyghurs
10.86%
Hui
7.24%
Others
1.36%
Source of the population statistics : :
Note:
* 1. On October 21, 2014, with the approval of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region People's Government, it was renamed the original Almali Township to Almali Town.
* 2. On July 13, 2016, with the approval of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region People's Government, it was renamed the original Kansu Township to Kansu Town.
* 3. On March 30, 2012, with the approval of the People's Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the original Karabora Township was renamed Karabora Town.

## Climate

Climate data for Xinyuan, elevation 928 m (3,045 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) | 2.2 (36.0) | 10.9 (51.6) | 19.9 (67.8) | 24.1 (75.4) | 27.3 (81.1) | 29.6 (85.3) | 29.4 (84.9) | 25.3 (77.5) | 17.8 (64.0) | 8.5 (47.3) | 1.4 (34.5) | 16.3 (61.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −5.8 (21.6) | −2.9 (26.8) | 4.8 (40.6) | 12.6 (54.7) | 17.0 (62.6) | 20.3 (68.5) | 22.1 (71.8) | 21.5 (70.7) | 17.4 (63.3) | 10.3 (50.5) | 2.9 (37.2) | −3.5 (25.7) | 9.7 (49.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9.7 (14.5) | −6.8 (19.8) | 0.2 (32.4) | 7.0 (44.6) | 11.2 (52.2) | 14.5 (58.1) | 15.9 (60.6) | 15.1 (59.2) | 11.0 (51.8) | 5.0 (41.0) | −1.0 (30.2) | −7.1 (19.2) | 4.6 (40.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 19.1 (0.75) | 20.5 (0.81) | 35.1 (1.38) | 70.0 (2.76) | 75.0 (2.95) | 65.3 (2.57) | 59.4 (2.34) | 44.4 (1.75) | 33.7 (1.33) | 40.5 (1.59) | 44.0 (1.73) | 26.8 (1.06) | 533.8 (21.02) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 7.0 | 8.0 | 9.4 | 10.9 | 12.1 | 12.4 | 11.6 | 9.0 | 7.2 | 7.9 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 113.3 |
| Average snowy days | 8.9 | 10.1 | 6.1 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.6 | 6.9 | 10.1 | 45.7 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 67 | 69 | 63 | 54 | 54 | 58 | 58 | 55 | 53 | 59 | 68 | 70 | 61 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 171.8 | 177.1 | 218.2 | 236.1 | 280.5 | 282.0 | 298.8 | 293.3 | 260.9 | 226.0 | 160.9 | 147.9 | 2,753.5 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 58 | 59 | 58 | 58 | 61 | 61 | 65 | 69 | 71 | 68 | 57 | 53 | 62 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||