Xinjiang (Uyghur: شىنجاڭ‎, ULY: Shinjang; Mandarin pronunciation: [ɕíntɕjɑ́ŋ]; Chinese: 新疆; pinyin: Xīnjiāng; Wade–Giles: Hsin¹-chiang¹; postal map spelling: Sinkiang), officially Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,^[2] is an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China in the northwest of the country. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km². Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It has abundant oil reserves and is China’s largest natural gas-producing region.It is home to a number of ethnic groups including the Uyghur, Han, Kazakh, Tajiks, Hui, Kyrgyz, and Mongol, with a majority of the population adhering to Islam.^[3] More than a dozen autonomous prefectures and counties for minorities are in Xinjiang. Older English-language reference works often refer to the area as Chinese Turkestan.^[4] Xinjiang is divided into the Dzungarian Basin in the north and the Tarim Basin in the south by a mountain range. Only about 4.3% of Xinjiang’s land area is fit for human habitation.^[5

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