Hotan is a city with over 360,000 residents, over 97% of them ethnic Uyghur, and is renowned for its Uyghur culture. Ürümqi, over away, is the comparatively modern capital of the region and holds three million residents. Half the population of Xinjiang as a whole is Uyghur. In September 2011, courts had tried and convicted four people for separatist attacks in Hotan and nearby Kashgar that had killed 32 people. The hijacking took place close to the anniversary of the 5 July 2009 Ürümqi riots which killed 200 people.