Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture


Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, also known as Aba, is an autonomous prefecture of northwestern Sichuan, bordering Gansu to the north and northeast and Qinghai to the northwest. Its seat is in Barkam, and it has an area of. The population was 919,987 in late 2013.
The county of Wenchuan in Ngawa is the site of the epicenter of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, in which over 20,000 of its residents died and 40,000 injured.

History and Names

In the 8th century the Gyalrong area was visited by Vairotsana.
In 1410 Je Tsongkhapa's student Tshakho Ngawang Tapa established the first Gelug monastery in the area called "Gyalrong".
In contemporary history, most of Ngawa was under the 16th Administrative Prefecture of Szechwan, which was established by the Republic of China.
The People's Republic of China defeated ROC troops in this area and established a Tibetan autonomous prefecture by late 1952. It was renamed Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in 1956 and Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in 1987.
On May 12, 2008, a major earthquake occurred in Wenchuan County, a county in the southeastern part of this autonomous prefecture. 20,258 people were killed, 45,079 injured, 7,696 missing in the prefecture as of June 6, 2008.
Internet access in the prefecture has been severely restricted.

Geography

Most of the prefecture lies in the Tibetan cultural and historical region of Amdo, the southern part in Kham. The west, and part of Kardze, is also known as Gyalrong. Gyalrong people speak a Qiangic language known as Gyalrong language. The source of the Min River and its tributary Dadu River are to be found in Ngawa.

Demographics

, the prefecture's population was 919,987 inhabitants at a density of 10.91 per km²:
Ethnic groupPopulationProportion
of total
Tibetan489,74757.3%
Han220,35320.6%
Qiang157,90518.6%
Hui26,3533.3%
Yi6850.08%
Manchu3730.04%
Miao2660.03%
Mongols2020.02%
Tujia1820.02%
Bai1010.01%
Zhuang950.01%
others2780.03%

Languages

Major languages spoken in Aba Prefecture include Khams Tibetan, Mandarin Chinese and many vernaculars of the Qiangic languages which vary from county to county:
In April 2020, classroom instruction was switched from Tibetan to Mandarin Chinese in Ngaba.

Administrative divisions

The region is composed of one county-level city and twelve counties:
Though situated within Wenchuan County, Wolong National Nature Reserve and Wolong Special Administrative Region are administered separately by the .

Transportation

The prefecture is served by Hongyuan Airport in the west and Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport in the east. Private taxis can be hired from these airports. Jiuzhaigou Train Station is under construction north-west of Jiuzhaigou County's town. The railway is to run between Chengdu and Lanzhou.

Tourism

Tourism produced 71.0% of the GDP of the prefecture in 2006. There are many places of interest in the prefecture, including