CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Altay City

county-level city

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ434924 ↗
Source-derived summary

Altay (also spelled Altai or Aletai) is a county-level city in Altay Prefecture within Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in far Northern Xinjiang, China. The city centre is located on the banks of Kelan River.

Administrative divisions

Altay City is divided into four subdistricts, five towns, five townships, and one ethnic township.

Others

Qaraghash Ranch (Chinese: 喀拉尕什牧场, Uyghur: قاراغاش چارۋىچىلىق مەيدانى, Kazakh: قاراعاش مال شارۋاشىلىعى الاڭىنداعى)

Aqtumsiq Ranch (Chinese: 阿克吐木斯克牧场, Uyghur: ئاقتۇمسىق چارۋىچىلىق مەيدانى, Kazakh: اقتۇمسىق مال شارۋاشىلىعى الاڭىنداعى)

XPCC 181st Regiment (兵团一八一团, Uyghur: 181-تۇەن مەيدانى, Kazakh: 181-تۋان الاڭىنداعى)

Geography

Climate

Altay has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with an annual precipitation total of only 222.5 mm (8.76 in). Winters are long, bitterly cold and dry, with a January 24-hour average of −15.8 °C (3.6 °F); however, the presence of the Altay Mountains to the north helps moderate the severity of winter cold as compared to locations further to the east. Spring and autumn are short but mild. Summers are very warm, but dry, with a July 24-hour average of 21.9 °C (71.4 °F). The annual mean is 4.9 °C (40.8 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 53% in December to 75% in August and September, sunshine is abundant and the city receives 2,985.3 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Demographics

Transport

China National Highway 216

China National Highway 217

Aletai Xuedu Airport

Altay railway station

From Ürümqi (capital of Xinjiang Province) to Altay, it takes about one hour by plane, nine hours by day bus, 12 hours by night bus and about 9.5 hours by train.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Altay City” as county-level city. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Altay, City and county-level.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current 258-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Altay, City and county-level providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Altay City”, the useful work is to connect “county-level city” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q434924. VIAF identifies the subject as 130626511. The Library of Congress control number is nr93040327. Authority coordinates are 47.827, 88.131. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Altay City”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Altay City primary sources, Altay City archive and Altay research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Altay City”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Altay City” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.