Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (黄南藏族自治州)

1. Introduction

Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Tibetan: རྨ་ལྷོ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ།, Wylie transliteration: rma lho bod rigs rang skyong khul, Tibetan Pinyin: Malho Poirig Ranggyong Kü), abbreviated as Huangnan Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture under the jurisdiction of Qinghai Province, People's Republic of China, located in the eastern part of Qinghai Province. The prefecture borders Haidong City to the north, Hainan Prefecture and Golog Prefecture to the west, and Gannan Prefecture of Gansu Province to the south and east. Situated in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, at the northern foot of the Anyê Maqên Mountains, the terrain is higher in the south and lower in the north, with the Xiqing Mountains in the south and several basins distributed among the mountainous areas. The Yellow River first flows from east to west along the southern edge of the prefecture, receiving the tributary Ze Qu, and after entering Hainan Prefecture, it flows from west to east along the northern edge of the prefecture, receiving the tributary Longwu River. The total area of the prefecture is 18,226 square kilometers, with a permanent resident population of 281,100 people. The capital of the autonomous prefecture is located in Longwu Town, Tongren City.

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2. History

In the first year of the Xianheng era of the Tang Dynasty (670 AD), the Tibetan Empire conquered the Tuyuhun Kingdom, and the present-day Huangnan region became a contested area between the Tang Dynasty and the Tibetan Empire. In the third year of the Jinglong era of the Tang Dynasty (709 AD), Princess Jincheng of the Tang Dynasty married the Tibetan Emperor. Yang Ju, the military governor of Shanzhou of the Tang Dynasty, accepted substantial bribes from the Tibetan Empire and petitioned the Tang court to cede the Jiugu region as Princess Jincheng’s estate. Consequently, the present-day Huangnan region came under Tibetan control.

In the third year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1370 AD), Deng Yu led troops to capture Hezhou. The following year, the Ming court established the Hezhou Guard and reorganized the Bili Wanhu Office into the Bili Qianhu Office. In the eighth year of the Hongwu era (1375 AD), Guide was reorganized into the Guide Garrison Qianhu Office, which oversaw ten military settlements.

In the fourth year of the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty (1726 AD), the Grand Minister Resident of Xining was established, and Henan County was placed under its jurisdiction. The regions of Tongren, Jianzha, and Zekog successively belonged to the Lintao Prefecture, Xining Prefecture, Hezhou Prefecture, and Lanzhou Prefecture of Gansu, and were administered by the Guide Subprefecture and Xunhua Subprefecture. In the twenty-seventh year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1762 AD), the assistant prefect of Hezhou was relocated to Xunhua, and the Xunhua Subprefecture was established. The present-day Tongren and Zekog counties were placed under the jurisdiction of the Xunhua Subprefecture, while the present-day Jianzha region was governed by the Guide Garrison Qianhu Office.

In January of the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929 AD), Qinghai Province was established. In July of the same year, Tongren County was separated from Xunhua County, administering the present-day Tongren and Zekog regions. In the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937 AD), the provincial government established the Seventh Administrative Commissioner’s Office in Longwu Town, overseeing Tongren and Tongde counties. In the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940 AD), most areas of Tongren and Zekog counties were placed under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Administrative Commissioner’s Office of Qinghai Province.

On March 17, 1952, the Tongren Tibetan Autonomous Region was established. On July 3 of the same year, the Jianzha Tibetan Autonomous Region was separated from Guide County, and Zekog County was separated from Tongren County.

On September 30, 1953, the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Region was established, with its government located at Longwu Temple in Tongren County, administering the three counties of Jianzha, Tongren, and Zekog.

On May 22, 1955, the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Region was renamed the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

3. Geography

Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in the southeastern part of Qinghai Province and derives its name from its position south of the Yellow River. To the northeast, it borders Hualong Hui Autonomous County and Xunhua Salar Autonomous County of Haidong City; to the southeast, it adjoins Xiahe, Luqu, and Maqu counties in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province; to the northwest and southwest, it connects with Guide, Guinan, and Tongde counties in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, as well as Maqin County in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The prefecture spans 175 kilometers from east to west and 235.3 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of 18,200 square kilometers, accounting for 2.61% of the province's total area. The terrain is higher in the south and lower in the north. The southern counties of Zeku and Henan belong to the southern Qinghai pastoral area, with elevations above 3,500 meters. The climate here is cold and alpine, making it the primary base for animal husbandry in the autonomous prefecture. The northern part includes Jianzha County and Tongren City, with elevations ranging between 1,900 and 4,118 meters.

Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture experiences a plateau continental climate. Its climatic characteristics include simultaneous occurrence of rain and heat, distinct dry and wet seasons; insufficient heat, short frost-free periods, high variability in precipitation, and uneven spatiotemporal distribution; long sunshine duration and strong solar radiation; long, dry, and cold cold seasons, and short, moist, and cool warm seasons; frequent occurrence of severe weather. The annual average temperature ranges from 6.6°C to 8.5°C; the southern region experiences relatively higher temperatures, with an annual average temperature of -0.9°C to 0.3°C. The prefecture's overall annual average temperature ranges from -0.9°C to 8.5°C. Precipitation is unevenly distributed in time and space, with significant interannual variability and a gradually increasing trend. The average annual precipitation is 308.4 mm in Jianzha County, 549.4 mm in Henan County, 409.1 mm in Tongren City, and 492.4 mm in Zeku County. The prefecture's average annual precipitation ranges from 329.0 mm to 505.0 mm. Annual sunshine hours range from 2,506.1 to 2,688.2 hours. The frost-free period lasts from 14 to 173 days, with 147–173 days in the warmer northern region and 14–21 days in the colder southern region. Annual evaporation ranges from 1,231.6 mm to 1,697.0 mm.

4. Administrative Divisions

Huangnan Prefecture administers 1 county-level city, 2 counties, and 1 autonomous county.

• County-level city: Tongren City
• Counties: Jianzha County, Zekog County
• Autonomous county: Henan Mongol Autonomous County

| Division Code | Division Name Tibetan | Hanyu Pinyin Tibetan Pinyin Wylie Transliteration | Area (km²) | Resident Population (2020 Census) | Government Seat | Postal Code | Towns | Townships | |-------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------|-----------------|-----------|---------------| | 632300 | Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture རྨ་ལྷོ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ། | Huángnán Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu Malho Poirig Ranggyong Kü rma lho bod rigs rang skyong khul | 18,226.46 | 276,215 | Tongren City | 811300 | 12 | 21 | | 632301 | Tongren City ཐུན་རིན་གྲོང་ཁྱེར། | Tóngrén Shì Tungrin Chongkyêr thun rin grong khyer | 3,195.00 | 101,519 | Longwu Town | 811300 | 3 | 8 | | 632322 | Jianzha County གཅན་ཚ་རྫོང་། | Jiānzhā Xiàn Jainca Zong gcan tsha rdzong | 1,557.85 | 58,173 | Maketang Town | 811200 | 3 | 6 | | 632323 | Zekog County རྩེ་ཁོག་རྫོང་། | Zékù Xiàn Zêkog Zong rtse khog rdzong | 6,773.37 | 75,659 | Zêqu Town | 811400 | 4 | 3 | | 632324 | Henan Mongol Autonomous County རྨ་ལྷོ་སོག་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་རྫོང་། | Hénán Měnggǔzú Zìzhìxiàn Malho Sogrig Ranggyong Zong rma lho sog rigs rang skyong rdzong | 6,700.23 | 40,864 | Youganning Town | 811500 | 2 | 4 |

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5. Population

By the end of 2022, the total population of the prefecture was 281,044. There were 4,523 births, with a birth rate of 16.09‰; and 1,970 deaths, with a death rate of 7.01‰. Among the total population, the ethnic minority population was 262,102, accounting for 93.26% of the total. Within the ethnic minority population, there were 192,571 Tibetans, 37,772 Mongolians, and 19,503 Hui people.

According to the Seventh National Population Census of 2020, the permanent resident population of the prefecture was 276,215. Compared with the 256,716 people from the Sixth National Population Census, the population increased by 19,499 over the ten years, a growth of 7.6%, with an average annual growth rate of 0.73%. Among them, the male population was 139,528, accounting for 50.51% of the total population; the female population was 136,687, accounting for 49.49% of the total population. The sex ratio of the total population (with females as 100) was 102.08. The population aged 0–14 was 73,316, accounting for 26.54% of the total population; the population aged 15–59 was 179,880, accounting for 65.12% of the total population; the population aged 60 and above was 23,019, accounting for 8.33% of the total population, of which the population aged 65 and above was 18,072, accounting for 6.54% of the total population. The urban population was 114,810, accounting for 41.57% of the total population; the rural population was 161,405, accounting for 58.43% of the total population.

5.1. Ethnic Groups

Among the permanent resident population, the Han population was 18,624, accounting for 6.74%; the total ethnic minority population was 257,591, accounting for 93.26%. Among them: 189,268 were Tibetan, accounting for 68.52%; 19,160 were Hui, accounting for 6.94%; 9,318 were Tu, accounting for 3.37%; 1,791 were Salar, accounting for 0.65%; 37,111 were Mongolian, accounting for 13.44%; and 943 were from other ethnic minorities, accounting for 0.34%. Compared with the Sixth National Population Census in 2010, the Han population increased by 3,007, a growth of 19.25%, and its proportion of the total population increased by 0.66 percentage points; the total ethnic minority population increased by 16,492, a growth of 6.84%, and its proportion of the total population decreased by 0.66 percentage points. Among them, the Tibetan population increased by 13,290, a growth of 7.55%, and its proportion of the total population decreased by 0.03 percentage points; the Mongolian population increased by 1,217, a growth of 3.39%, and its proportion of the total population decreased by 0.55 percentage points; the Hui population increased by 2,419, a growth of 14.45%, and its proportion of the total population increased by 0.42 percentage points; the Tu population decreased by 709, a decline of 7.07%, and its proportion of the total population decreased by 0.53 percentage points.

Ethnic Composition of Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (November 2020)

| Ethnic Group | Tibetan | Mongolian | Hui | Han | Tu | Salar | Bonan | Dongxiang | Tujia | Bai | Other Ethnic Groups | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 189,268 | 37,111 | 19,160 | 18,624 | 9,318 | 1,791 | 392 | 245 | 104 | 60 | 142 | | Percentage of Total Population (%) | 68.52 | 13.44 | 6.94 | 6.74 | 3.37 | 0.65 | 0.14 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.05 | | Percentage of Ethnic Minority Population (%) | 73.48 | 14.41 | 7.44 | - | 3.62 | 0.70 | 0.15 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.06 |

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Tongren City

Tongren City

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