Aral
阿拉尔市 ئارال شەھىرى | |
---|---|
Aral (red) in Xinjiang Province (orange) and China | |
Coordinates (Aral municipal government): 40°32′53″N 81°16′52″E / 40.548°N 81.281°ECoordinates: 40°32′53″N 81°16′52″E / 40.548°N 81.281°E | |
Country | People's Republic of China |
Autonomous region | Xinjiang |
Area | |
• Total | 5,258.739 km2 (2,030.410 sq mi) |
Population (2010 Census) | |
• Total | 166,205 |
• Density | 32/km2 (82/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
Aral, Xinjiang | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 阿拉尔 | ||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 阿拉爾 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Uyghur name | |||||||||||
Uyghur | ئارال | ||||||||||
|
Aral[1][2] is a sub-prefecture-level city surrounded by Aksu Prefecture in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Aral means "island" in Uyghur.[3] The city's name is often written as Alar.[4]
According to Radio Free Asia, a United States government-funded news service, Aral was created in the 1950s by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps to facilitate Han Chinese immigration to the region.[5]
Aral became a city in 2002 and its population increased to 166,205 in 2010.
On January 23, 2013, 474.208 km2 (183.093 sq mi) of territory was transferred from Awat County (Awati) to Aral city[6] and 802.733 km2 (309.937 sq mi) of territory was transferred from Aksu city (Akesu) to Aral city.[7]
The city has an administrative area of 5,258.739 km2 (2,030.410 sq mi). It is bordered by mountainous regions to the north and northwest and the Taklamakan Desert to the east and south.
As of 2015, 167,697 (93.6%) of the 179,214 residents of the county were Han Chinese, 6,036 (3.4%) were Uyghur and 5,481 were from other ethnic groups.[8]
Climate data for Aral (1981−2010) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) |
15.8 (60.4) |
28.1 (82.6) |
35.7 (96.3) |
37.2 (99.0) |
38.5 (101.3) |
39.5 (103.1) |
40.6 (105.1) |
35.5 (95.9) |
30.0 (86.0) |
22.2 (72.0) |
10.6 (51.1) |
40.6 (105.1) |
Average high °C (°F) | 0.3 (32.5) |
6.3 (43.3) |
14.7 (58.5) |
23.3 (73.9) |
28.4 (83.1) |
31.5 (88.7) |
32.4 (90.3) |
31.5 (88.7) |
27.4 (81.3) |
20.5 (68.9) |
10.5 (50.9) |
1.7 (35.1) |
19.0 (66.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −7.8 (18.0) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
7.1 (44.8) |
15.4 (59.7) |
20.7 (69.3) |
23.7 (74.7) |
24.6 (76.3) |
23.6 (74.5) |
18.7 (65.7) |
10.3 (50.5) |
1.3 (34.3) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
10.8 (51.5) |
Average low °C (°F) | −14.4 (6.1) |
−9.2 (15.4) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
7.5 (45.5) |
13.0 (55.4) |
16.1 (61.0) |
17.7 (63.9) |
16.6 (61.9) |
11.2 (52.2) |
2.5 (36.5) |
−5.1 (22.8) |
−11.4 (11.5) |
3.7 (38.7) |
Record low °C (°F) | −25.4 (−13.7) |
−24.9 (−12.8) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
3.3 (37.9) |
7.2 (45.0) |
9.3 (48.7) |
7.9 (46.2) |
2.9 (37.2) |
−6.0 (21.2) |
−14.1 (6.6) |
−23.4 (−10.1) |
−25.4 (−13.7) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 0.8 (0.03) |
0.9 (0.04) |
1.3 (0.05) |
0.8 (0.03) |
7.9 (0.31) |
10.4 (0.41) |
11.9 (0.47) |
11.2 (0.44) |
4.7 (0.19) |
1.8 (0.07) |
0.5 (0.02) |
1.2 (0.05) |
53.4 (2.11) |
Average relative humidity (%) | 66 | 55 | 47 | 37 | 40 | 47 | 56 | 58 | 60 | 61 | 65 | 70 | 55 |
Source: China Meteorological Data Service Center[9] |
Tarim University is located in Aral.