Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

expand_more Description

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is a vast territory in the northwest of China, home to the Muslim Uyghur, one of China’s largest minority groups. The region was incorporated into the Chinese Empire late in the Qing Dynasty. In a largely inhabitable desert and mountainous environment, communities were scattered in oasis settlements along trade routes that connected China to Central Asia and the West. Traditional economy was based on irrigation agriculture, nomadic pastoralism, and trade. Under the People’s Republic of China, the region’s geopolitical importance and abundance of mineral resources including oil has led to rapid development and an influx of Han Chinese.

Identifier

Region

• Asia

Subregion

• Central Asia

Subsistence Type

• not assigned

Countries

• China