Xinjiang (historical area)

Xinjiang (新疆; Uyghur: شىنجاڭ) is an area located in Central Asia, between 73 ° 5 'to 96 ° 4' east and 35 ° 5 'and 49 ° north, in total 1,660,000 square Km, share border with Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Gansu Province. This region had been called Western Regions (Chinese: 西域; pinyin: xīyù) in China's history and is currently known as the China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in provincial-level.

Map of Modern Xinjiang

The name 'Xinjiang' literally means "new territory" in Chinese, had been originated in the early Qing dynasty, refers to Manchu's new conquest land, such as 'Yunnan Xinjiang' (literally "the Yunnan new territory"), 'Guangxi Xinjiang' (literally "the Guangxi new territory"). The lands of Dzungar Khanate and post Yarkent Khanate after conquered by Qing empire in the mid-18th century, was also named as 'Xiyu Xinjiang' (literally "the Western regions new territory"). This area set off a revolt against the reign of the Qing empire in the middle of the 19th century and the rebels around the regime were subsequently reunified by Yaqub Beg from West Turkestan later. In 1884, the area was conquered again by the Qing empire and set up as a province, named 'Xinjiang Province'. In the subsequent changes, the administrative area of this region has been shrinking and finally reduced to the extent of today's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

For the indigenous peoples of this region (mainly Turkic peoples), the word 'Xinjiang' is a foreign language word with colonialist implications and no connection to the local historical and cultural traditions. They use the name East Turkestan (Uyghur: شەرقىي تۈركىستان, Sherqiy Türkistan; Chinese: 东突厥斯坦, Pinyin: Dōng Tūjuésītǎn) to refer to this area. Due to the existence of the East Turkestan independence movement, outside the original cultural and geographical meaning, this name had a political overtones. It is not accepted by those who are against the East Turkestan independence movement. Therefore, for those opponents, East Turkestan is equal to Xinjiang (新疆).

So Xinjiang (新疆) may refer to: