Ningxia, full name Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is a Hui autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located on the northwest Loess highland, the Yellow River flows through a vast area of its land. The capital of the region is Yinchuan. Ningxia borders the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Rivers that flow through Ningxia include the Yellow River.
Ningxia is a relatively dry, desert-like region. There is significant irrigation in order to support the growing of wolfberries (a commonly consumed fruit throughout the region).
Ningxia's deserts include the Tengger desert in Shapotou.
On 16 December 1920 the Haiyuan earthquake, 8.6 magnitude, at 36°36?N 105°19?E? / ?36.6, 105.32, initiated a series of landslides that killed an estimated 200,000 people. Over 600 large loess landslides created more than 40 new lakes.
In 2006, satellite images indicated that a 700 by 200-meter fenced area within Ningxia - 35 km southwest of Yinchuan, near the remote village of Huangyangtan - is a near-exact scaled-down reproduction of a 450 by 350-kilometer area of Aksai Chin bordering India, complete with mountains, valleys, lakes and hills. Its purpose is as yet unknown. |