Aral, Xinjiang

Aral 阿拉尔市 • ئارال شەھىرى
Sub-prefecture-level city
Aral (red) in Xinjiang province (orange) and China
Coordinates: 40°30′56″N 81°15′49″E / 40.51556°N 81.26361°E
Country	China
Province	Xinjiang
Area
• Total	5,258.739 km^2 (2,030.410 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census)
• Total	166,205
• Density	32/km^2 (82/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)

Aral, Ala'er or Alar (simplified Chinese: 阿拉尔; traditional Chinese: 阿拉爾; pinyin: Ālā'ěr; Uyghur: ئارال, Арал‎, ULY: Aral^[1]) is a sub-prefecture-level city surrounded by Aksu Prefecture in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in China. Aral in Uighur means "island."^[2] Official spelling is 'Aral' but it is often written as 'Alar'.

History

The city was created by the Xinjiang production and Construction Corp as a means of emigration of Han Chinese to the region. Aral was opened as its own city in 2002 and thus saw a steady increase of population, reaching 166,205 in 2010.

Education

This city is also the location of Tarim University.

Geography

The city is officially 5,258.739 square kilometers. It is bordered by mountainous regions to the north and northwest and the Taklamakhan desert to the east and south.

See also

• Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
• Makan Map

Footnotes

1. The official spelling is Aral, according to the Zhōngguó dìmínglù 中国地名录 (Beijing, SinoMaps Press 中国地图出版社 1997); ISBN 7-5031-1718-4; p. 1, 299.
2. http://www.uighurdictionary.com/cgi-bin/eudict_ud.pl

Coordinates: 40°30′56″N 81°15′49″E / 40.51556°N 81.26361°E