Xinjiang

Xinjiang is a semi-autonomous region in western China. The Uyghurs, a Muslim Turkic people, are the traditional inhabitants of this region.
==History==
===Expansion of Xinjiang: 2017===
See Full Article: Central Asian Wars
China added the Almaty region of former Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Xinjiang in 2017, creating a larger semi-autonomous western region with no single ethnic majority. Out of a population of roughly 32 million in 2017, Xinjiang included 11 million Uyghurs, 10 million Han Chinese, 4.5 million Kyrgyz, 4 million Kazakhs, 2 million Russians, 1 million Uzbeks and numerous other minorities becoming a melting of Eurasian people's. 
Although China faced a long running insurgency among the Uyghurs who wanted independence, his became more difficult since the Uyghurs no longer constituted a majority and soon wouldn't even have a plurality in their homeland of Xinjiang.
===Shale Gas Boom: 2018-2025===
The discovery of shale gas in Xinjiang brought an economic boom as well as an influx of Han Chinese fracking companies, workers and colonists, giving the region a much higher standard of living but also giving Xinjiang a Han plurality. Cities such as Urumqi, Kashgar, Almaty and Bishkek saw enormous growth during this period. The expansion of the Chinese HSR network and the creation of the Pan-Eurasian High Speed Rail System connected Xinjiang to the rest of the Eurasian land mass of made it a crucial link in continent wide trade network. The Urumqi-Baghdad HSR Line linked Xinjiang to the Middle East.
Disaffected Uyghurs and other Muslims unhappy with Chinese rule were drawn to ISCA, which was active on both sides of the Chinese-UIR border. Beijing and Tehran cooperated against what they both labeled as a terrorist group.
===Solar Industry: 2026-2050===
After technological breatheoughs creased the efficiency of solar power in the 2020s, Chinese solar companies constructed vast solar farms throughout the Talikmakan Desert in Xinjiang. By the 2030s, HVDC cables provided clean electricity from these solar farms to cities in western China, eastern portions of the United Islamic Republic, Russia and even the Indian subcontinent. Xinjiang was also a player in the wind industry becoming a crucial part of Beijing's plans to gradually move towards a post-fossil fuel economy by the mid to late 21st century.
Category:Regions
Category:East Asia
Category:Central Asia
Category:China