Location:

located between 10149' east longitude and 3634' north

latitude, in the east part of Qinghai province

Neighboring Areas:

Gansu and Sichuan provinces;

Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous

Region.

Physical Features:

topography slopes down from northwest to southeast

Population:

1.11 million

Urban Population:

700,000

Area:

7,671 sq km

Nationalities:

Han, Hui, Manchu, Tibetan, Sala and

Mongolian

History:

 a history of 2000 years; originally called Xipingting;

once as a capital in Nan Liang dynasty; the key point of the

south branch of the Silk Road

Climatic Features:

the continental mid-drought climate with

 rich sunlight and little rainfall, short frost-free, long freeze-up,

 no bitter coldness in winter or extremely hot in summer

Rivers:

 the Yellow River, Nanchuan river, Beichuan river