Qinghai

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Qinghai or Tsinghai , province (2010 pop. 5,626,722), c.279,000 sq mi (722,797 sq km), W China. Xining is the capital. Qinghai lies in the Tibetan highlands at an average elevation of 9,800 ft (3,000 m) and is mainly a high, desolate plateau. The central region has the vast, swampy Qaidam [Mongolian,=salt marshes] basin, and in the northeast there is the large Qinghai Hu or Koko Nor [Chinese and Mongolian,=blue sea] salt lake for which the province is named; it is the largest lake in China. In the precipitous mountain gorges of the south rise some of E Asia's greatest rivers; the Huang He (Yellow), the Chang, and the Mekong.

The chief economic area and the most densely settled part of the province is in the NE around Xining; there coal is mined and grain and potatoes are grown. Extensive irrigation and the use of early-ripening spring wheat increased production in the late 20th cent. Ethnic Chinese (from China proper) and Chinese Muslims predominate in this region. The south is inhabited by Tibetans who live a precarious existence based on stock herding and marginal farming. Stock breeding is also important; Qinghai horses are world famous. The Qaidam basin was once peopled only by a scattered population of Tibetan, Kazakh, and Mongol herders, but from the 1950s to the 1970s there was an influx of Chinese to work in the mineral extraction industries there (oil, iron ore, salt, lithium, boron, zinc, potash, magnesium, and lead). Salt is so abundant that it is used for building blocks and for road pavement. Heavy industry, utilizing the province's store of mineral resources, has increased steadily since the 1950s. Thousands of miles of highways have been constructed to link Xining and the Qaidam basin with adjoining provinces; there are rail links between Xining and Lanzhou, in Gansu prov., and Lhasa, in Tibet. The noted Kumbum lamasery is SW of Xining.

Historically a part of Tibet, the Qinghai region passed to the Mongol overlords of China in the 14th cent., when it became part of Gansu. It came under Chinese (Ch'ing dynasty) control after 1724 and was administered from Xining as the Koko Nor territory. Over the centuries Chinese settlers have proceeded up the Xining and Huang He rivers from Lanzhou, penetrating deeply into ethnic Tibetan territory in the northeast. In 1928, Qinghai became a province of China. The Communist government established autonomous districts for the Tibetan, Chinese Muslim, Kazakh, and Mongol minorities. In 2010 an earthquake caused severe destruction in parts of S Qinghai; some 2,700 people were killed.

Qinghai (Tsinghai) Province in nw China; the capital is Xining (Sining). Although parts of the region have long been under Chinese control, it was occupied mainly by Tibetan and Mongol nomads until recent times. It became a province of China in 1928. A mountainous region, it is the source of some of Asia's greatest rivers, including the Huang He, Yangtze and Mekong. There is farming of wheat, barley and potatoes, and stock rearing. The province is famous for its horses. Iron ore, coal, oil, salt and potash are extracted. Area: 721,280sq km (278,486sq mi). Pop. (2000) 5,180,000.

Qinghai, China A province, established in 1928, and a lake, from which it takes its name, meaning ‘Blue Lake’ from qīng ‘blue’ and hăi ‘lake’ or ‘sea’. The lake is actually called Qinghai Hu with hú ‘lake’. It is also known as Koko Nor, a Mongolian name, also meaning ‘Blue Lake’ from hoh ‘blue’ and nuur ‘lake’. It is still also spelt Tsinghai and was commonly known as Xihai ‘West Lake’.

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