Ningxia is called Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, or Ningxia for short. Yinchuan, the capital city, was founded on October 25, 1958, and is one of the five autonomous regions of ethnic minorities in China.  

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Western China. It is adjacent to Shaanxi Province in the east, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the West and north, and Gansu Province in the southwest, South and southeast. North and South are about 456 kilometers apart, East and West are about 250 kilometers apart, with a total area of more than 664,000 square kilometers. It is the largest Hui inhabited area in China. It has jurisdiction over 5 prefecture-level cities, 22 counties and municipalities (districts).

In 2017, the permanent population of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was 6.8179 million, an increase of 68.9 million over the end of last year.

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has formed a long Yellow River civilization by irrigating the Yellow River. As early as 30,000 years ago, there were traces of human life in Ningxia. In 1038, Li Yuanhao, the leader of the Dangxiang clan, established the Xixia Dynasty here. Historically, it is the main road of the Silk Road, and it is known as "plugging up the south of the Yangtze River".

Location context

Ningxia is located between 35°14~39°23 in the north latitude and 104°17~107°39 in the East longitude. Ningxia's territorial outline is long in North and south, short in East and west, and is in the shape of a cross. The distance between North and south is about 456 kilometers (2 kilometers north of Shizuishan City Head Road, the heart of the Huanghe River, and 2 kilometers south to Liupanshan Zhongzui Liang in Jingyuan County), and between East and West is about 250 kilometers (10 kilometers southwest of Zhongweiying Panshui Station in the west, 2 kilometers north and east of Liushuliang in Yanchi County), with a total area of more than 66,400 square kilometers.

Climatic environment

Ningxia is a typical continental semi-humid and semi-arid climate living in the northwest inland plateau. The rainy season is mostly concentrated in June-September. It has the characteristics of long winter, short summer and summer, rare rain and snow, dry climate, strong wind and sand, warm in the South and north. Because the average altitude of Ningxia is over 1000 meters, there is no heat in summer; the average temperature in January is below minus 8 degrees, and the extreme low temperature is below minus 22 degrees. The most remarkable characteristics of Ningxia climate are: large diurnal temperature difference, long sunshine time, strong solar radiation, and the diurnal temperature difference in most areas can generally reach 12-15 degrees C. [8] The annual average temperature ranges from 5 to 9 degrees Celsius. The high-temperature and low-temperature areas are respectively in the irrigation area of the Yellow River diversion and Guyuan.

The precipitation in Ningxia is more in the South than in the north, mostly concentrated in summer. The average annual precipitation in arid mountainous areas is 400 mm, and the average annual precipitation in irrigation areas diverted from the Yellow River is 157 mm. In 1995, the annual precipitation in the irrigation area of the Yellow River diversion was 203.7 mm and 317.8 mm in the arid mountainous areas. Located in the south of Ningxia, Xihaigu is the collective name of seven poverty-stricken counties at the national level, including Xiji, Haiyuan, Guyuan, Pengyang and Tongxin in the Loess Hilly region. Here is a long-term drought, annual rainfall of about 300 mm, evaporation of more than 1000 mm, and multiple natural disasters.

Topographic features

Ningxia is located in the northern section of the "north-south axis" of China's geology and geomorphology, between the North China Platform, the Alxa Platform and the Qilian Mountain folds. In the interlaced zone between Plateau and mountain area, the geotectonics is complex. From west, north to east, it is surrounded by Tengger Desert, Ulanbuhe Desert and Maowusu Sandy Land, and from south to the Loess Plateau. The terrain is narrow in the north and south, high in the South and low in the north, high in the West and gentle in the east.

Liupanshan in the South extends from the south to the north, and is intermittently connected with Moon Mountain, Nanhua Mountain and Xihua Mountain, which divides the Loess Plateau into two parts. The Loess Plateau and hills in northern Shaanxi are in the East and south, and the Loess Hills in Longshan and Longshan are in the West and south. In the middle part, mountains and plains are interlaced. Weining Beishan, Niushou Mountain, Luoshan Mountain, Qinglong Mountain and other supporting mountain plains stand in disorder.

The northern landform shows obvious East-West differentiation. After the Yellow River came out of the Bronze Gorge, it shaped the beautiful and rich Yinchuan Plain. On the west side of the plain, Mount Helan rises to the sky. The Eastern Ordos Platform, more than 100 meters above the plain, with a steep front, is a Lingyan Platform protruding eastward in Ningxia.

According to the topography, Ningxia can be roughly divided into three parts: Loess Plateau, Ordos Platform, Alluvial Plain and Liupanshan, Luoshan and Helan Mountains. The average altitude is over 1000 meters. According to the surface characteristics, it can also be divided into the southern warm temperate plain zone, the middle temperate semi-desert zone and the northern middle temperate desert zone. From south to north, the whole area shows the characteristics of transition from flowing water landform to wind erosion landform.

Ningxia is situated in the transition zone between the Loess Plateau and Inner Mongolia Plateau, with the South high and the North low. From the point of view of landform type, the main landform in the south is the Loess eroded by running water, and the main landform in the middle and north is the drought erosion and wind erosion, which is a part of Inner Mongolia Plateau. There are relatively high mountains and widely distributed hills in the territory, as well as alluvial plains formed by stratum faults and alluvial plains through the Yellow River, as well as platforms and dunes. Surface morphology is complex and diverse, which provides different conditions for economic development. According to the statistics of early 2004, hills account for 38%, plains 26.8%, mountains 15.8%, platforms 17.6% and deserts 1.8% of Ningxia's topography.

The famous mountains in Ningxia are Helan Mountain and Liupanshan Mountain. Helan Mountain lies in the northwest of Ningxia. It is more than 200 kilometers long from north to South and 15 to 60 kilometers wide from east to west. Mountainous areas are mostly between 1600 and 3000 meters above sea level, with the main peak reaching 3556 meters. Liupanshan, known as Longshang in ancient times, is situated in the south of Ningxia and stands on the Loess Plateau. It is a narrow mountain range approximating the North-South trend.

The Ningxia Plain, known as "Saisheng Jiangnan", has an elevation of 1,100-1,200 meters. The terrain is gradually inclined from southwest to northeast. The Yellow River enters the country from Zhongwei and runs north-east across the plain. The river flows out through Shizuishan along the terrain. The plain has deep soil and flat terrain.

The southern part of Ningxia is a part of the Loess Plateau, which is covered with loess. The thickness of the Loess Plateau can reach more than 100 meters. The thickness of the Loess Plateau decreases gradually from south to north. To the south of the main peak of Liupanshan Mountains, the cutting effect of running water is remarkable, the terrain undulates greatly and the mountains are high and deep.

In Ningxia, there are various types of landforms: mountains, plateaus, plains, hills and valleys, which make Ningxia present a rich natural landscape.

Hydrographic features

The average annual water surface evaporation in Ningxia is 1250 mm, ranging from 800 mm to 1600 mm. It is one of the provinces with large water surface evaporation in China. The average annual runoff in the whole region is 949.3 million cubic meters, and the average annual runoff depth is 18.3 mm, which is 1/3 of the average in the Yellow River Basin and 1/15 of the average in China. The annual runoff distributes very unevenly, with large mountainous area and small platform, large in the South and small in the north. The annual runoff depth decreases from 300 mm in the southeast of Liupanshan Mountains in the south to less than 3 mm in the edge of the irrigation area of the Yellow River diversion, with a difference of nearly 100 times, and 70%-80% of the runoff is concentrated in the flood season.

The main water resources in Ningxia are sulfate and chloride. The average salinity of the whole area is more than 2 g liter, accounting for 57%; the water quality of Ningxia section of the Yellow River is about 500 mg/liter, and the water quality of urban water supply sources basically meets the standards. In the Middle Arid Zone and the hilly area of the Loess Plateau, the water shortage is the most, not only the surface water quantity is small, but also the water quality is high in salt content. Most of them belong to bitter water or because of the deep burial of groundwater, the utilization value is low. Jinghe River is rich in water resources, but its actual utilization rate is small. In addition, there are inland river areas (Yanchi) and inland river areas (Gantang, Zhongwei City, Shiyang River, Inner Mongolia).