In 630, Xuanzang, a well-known Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler and translator visited Kucha during the Early Tang period. In the book "Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib", written in 982 by an unknown Arab or Persian writer, and presented to Abu'l Haret Muhammad, the ruler of Guzgan, the following is written regarding Kucha: Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a military general, in his historical book Tarikh-i-Rashidi used the word "Kūsān" for Kucha. Mahmud Kashgari, in his Compendium of Turkic Languages, wrote the following about Kucha: "It is one of the cities built by Zülqarnayin.". He also wrote that Kucha was an Uyghurtown. In 1758, the Qing Dynasty took control of the area, and the Chinese character name 'Kuche' was made the name of the area. In an interview with Radio Free Asia, an officer at the Kuchar County Police Department reported that from June to December 2018, 150 people at the No. 1 Internment Camp in the Yengisher district of Kuchar county had died, corroborating earlier reports attributed to Himit Qari, former area police chief. On December 20, 2019, Kuqa County was disestablished and Kuqa City was created.
Geography
The city is located at the southern periphery of the Tian Shan range, the northern portion of the Tarim Basin, and the centre of the autonomous region. It occupies part of the northeastern portion of Aksu Prefecture, bordering Xinhe County, Xayar County, and Luntai County, Heiing County, and Lopnur County in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Region. Kuqa has a continental desert climate, with an average annual precipitation of, a majority of which occurs in summer. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, and the annual mean is. The frost-free period lasts for 266 days on average. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 54% in March to 69% in September and October, sunshine is abundant and the city receives 2,712 hours of bright sunshine annually.
Administrative divisions
Kuqa has four subdistricts, eight towns, six townships and one other area under its administration: Subdistricts :
Agricultural products include wheat, corn, rice, cotton as well as pears, apricots, melons, grapes, pomegranates, figs, etc. Specialty products include Sanbei Sheep lambskin, white apricots and thin-shelled walnuts. Mineral resources include oil and coal. Industries include coal mining, tractor manufacturing and repair, construction and processing for non-staple foods.
Demographics
As of 2015, 440,125 of the 492,535 residents of Kuqa County were Uyghur, 49,021 were Han Chinese and 3,389 were from other ethnic groups. As of 1999, 89.93% of the population of Kuqa County were Uyghur and 9.49% of the population was Han Chinese.
Kuqa is also the name of the central town, located in the easternmost area of Kuqa. It is the second largest town of Aksu Prefecture. Its area size is 14,528.74 square meters and population 470,600, composed of fourteen peoples including the Uyghurs, Hans, Huis, and Mongols. Kuqa is a thriving town of oil and natural gas development of the Tarim Basin, and of tourism, as it was once the homeland of the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha. Its tourist attractions are:
Kumtura Caves
Subashi Temple Ruins
Kumtura Caves
Notable persons
Qurban Mamut, former editor-in-chief of the official Xinjiang Cultural Journal and detainee in the Xinjiang re-education camps
