Zhangye

Location o Zhangye Prefectur athin Gansu

Zhangye (simplifeed Cheenese: 张掖; traditeeonal Cheenese: 張掖; pinyin: Zhāngyè) is a prefectur-level ceety in Cheenae's Gansu province.

History

Zhangye is in the centre o the Hexi Corridor. The aurie wis the frontier for hintle o Cheenae's history, formin a naitural passage tae the Central Asian portion o the empire. In fact, the name Zhangye (lit. "tae extend the airm") is an abbreviation o 张国臂掖，以通西域 (lit. Tae extend the airm o the kintra, throu tae the Wastren Realm. Durin the Wastren Han dynasty, Cheenese armies war eften engaged against the Xiongnu in this aurie. It wis an aa an important section o the Silk Road.

The ceety wis ance kent as Ganzhou (甘州), a name retained baith in the municipal region seat Ganzhou Destrict an the Gan o the province o Gansu. In The Travels of Marco Polo, Marco Polo describes spendin a year in a ceety cried Campichu, which haes been identifee'd wi Ganzhou (Zhangye).

Geography an climate

Zhangye is locatit in far wastren Gansu province. In the north it borders Inner Mongolie an in the sooth Qinghai. It haes a lairge aurie o 42,000 km² an is blessed wi numerous streams, abundant sunlicht an fertile soil, makin it an important agricultural centre for Gansu an aw o Cheenae.

Admeenistration

Zhangye haes 1 urban destrict, 4 coonties, 1 autonomous coonty, 97 touns, an 977 veelages.

Cairt
#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2004 est.)	Aurie (km²)	Density (/km²)
1	Ganzhou Destrict	甘州区	Gānzhōu Qū	500,000	4,240	120
2	Minle Coonty	民乐县	Mínlè Xiàn	240,000	3,687	65
3	Linze Coonty	临泽县	Línzé Xiàn	150,000	2,777	54
4	Gaotai Coonty	高台县	Gāotái Xiàn	160,000	4,312	37
5	Shandan Coonty	山丹县	Shāndān Xiàn	190,000	5,402	35
6	Sunan Yugur Autonomous Coonty	肃南裕固族自治县	Sùnán Yùgùzú Zìzhìxiàn	40,000	20,456	2

Demographics

Near Aviko french fry factory in Liuba Toun, Minle Coonty, Zhangye

Zhangye haes a tot population o 1,260,000, anerlie 260,000 bein urban residents. Thare are 26 ethnic minorities ither than Han representit includin mony Hui, Yugur an Tibetans.

Transport

Zhangye is served bi Cheenae Naitional Heich-gates 227 an 312, an the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway.

Economy

The 2002 GDP wis 7.566 billion RMB, amaist 9% growthe ower the previous year. Annual urban income wis 5960 RMB,10.4% growthe frae the previous year an rural income wis 3092 RMB, up 5%.

Freemit airtins

• Offeecial Wabsteid (Cheenese) Archived 2006-02-07 at the Wayback Machine