Dzungaria

Dzungaria, also known as Northern Xinjiang or Beijiang, is a geographical subregion in Northwest China, consisting of the northern half of Xinjiang. Bound by the Altai Mountains to the north and the Tian Shan mountain range to the south, Dzungaria covers approximately 777,000 km2 (300,000 sq mi), and borders Kazakhstan to the west and Mongolia to the east. In contexts prior to the mid-18th century Dzungar genocide, the term "Dzungaria" could cover a wider area, coterminous with the Oirat-led Dzungar Khanate.

Although Dzungaria is geographically, historically, and ethnically distinct from the Tarim Basin or Southern Xinjiang (Nanjiang), the Manchu-led Qing dynasty integrated both areas into one province, Xinjiang. Dzungaria is Xinjiang's center of heavy industry, generates most of the region's GDP, and houses its political capital Ürümqi (Oirat for 'beautiful pasture'). As such, Dzungaria continues to attract intraprovincial and interprovincial migration to its cities. In contrast to the Tarim Basin, Dzungaria is relatively well integrated with the rest of China by rail and trade links.

Background

Xinjiang has traditionally been divided into two geographically and ethnically distinct regions: Dzungaria, north of the Tian Shan mountains; and the Tarim Basin, south of the mountains. At the time of the Qing conquest of Xinjiang in 1759, Dzungaria was predominantly inhabited by steppe-dwelling, nomadic Tibetan-Buddhist Dzungars while the Tarim Basin was inhabited by predominantly oasis-dwelling, sedentary, Turkic Muslim farmers, now known as the Uyghurs. The Qing government was well aware of the differences between the inhabitants of the two regions, and initially ruled them as separate administrative units.