Fuhai County


Fuhai County as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Burultokay County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Altay Prefecture. It has an area of with a population of 65,600. The county's postcode is 836400.

History

In 1921, the area was incorporated as Burultokay County, adapting the Kazakh endonym "Burultokay", meaning "colorful jungle". The county was renamed as Fuhai County in 1942.

Geography

The Altay Mountains run through Fuhai County, and the county's two main rivers which flow through the area the Ulungur River and the Ertix River. Ulungur Lake is located in Fuhai County.
Fuhai County is bordered by Mongolia to its northeast, Fuyun County to its east, Fukang City to its south, and by Jimunai County, Tacheng Prefecture, and Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County all to its west.
The county's elevation ranges from in height, with an average elevation of approximately.

Climate

The county has an average annual temperature of, with an extreme high temperature of, and an extreme low temperature of. The county, on average, goes 224 days of the year above 0 °C, 156 days without frost, has 2,908 annual hours of sunshine, and an annual precipitation of 131 millimeters.

Administrative divisions

Fuhai County is directed divided into three towns, three townships, one township-level farm, one prison, and a number of areas administered by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Towns

Fuhai County's three towns are,, and.

Townships

Fuhai County three townships are,, and.

Prefecture Farm 1

, a special township-level unit, is located in Fuhai County.

Fuhai Prison

is a township-level prison located in Fuhai County.

Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps

The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps operates its,,, and its within Fuhai County.

Demographics

Of the county's 65,600 people, 31,800 of the county's population is Han Chinese, 30,000 of the county's population is Kazakh, and the remaining 3,800 of the population belong to the county's other 30 ethnic groups, which include the Hui and Uighur people.

Economy

Fuhai County has 1.2 million acres of cultivated land and 23 million acres of grassland, and is the home of the Altay Sheep. In 2013, the county was named the camel milk capital of China. Aquaculture is also present in the county, particularly in Ulungur Lake.
The county is home to a number of natural resources, including oil, natural gas, iron ore, spodumene. The county's proven natural gas reserves total 105.3 billion cubic meters, and the county's oil reserves are more than 11 million tons. Geologic surveys exploring the county's copper, lead, zinc, gold, beryllium, lithium, niobium, tantalum, rubidium, cesium, and muscovite have been conducted. Clay has also been mined in Fuhai County since the 1980's.
Hongshanzui Port, a land border crossing with Mongolia, is located within Fuhai County. The county government has announced efforts to improve the crossing's poor infrastructure in order to expand commerce through the crossing.

Transportation

and China National Highway 218 both run through the county. Xinjiang Provincial Highway 318 and Xinjiang Provincial Highway 324 also run through the county.
The Kuytun–Beitun railway passes through Fuhai County.

Culture

is prevalent in Fuhai County due to its large Kazakh population, particularly Kazakh dastans, Kazakh embroidery, Kazakh yurts, and a number of horse-related traditions unique to Kazakh culture.
Starting in 1988, the county government began undertaking research regarding dastans in the hope of preserving them. In 1992, the county government archived four volumes of dastans, totaling 340,000 words.