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Coordinates: 36°0′N, 96°0′E

མཚོ་སྔོན་ 青海省 Qīnghǎi Shěng
Abbreviations: 青  (pinyin: Qīng)
Origin of name	From Mongolian Köke Nayur: Köke - blue Naγur - Lake "blue lake" (Lake Qinghai) In Chinese: 青 qīng - green/blue 海 hǎi - sea "green sea"
Administration type	Province
Capital (and largest city)	Xining
CPC Ctte Secretary	Qiang Wei
Governor	Song Xiuyan
Area	721,000 km² (4th)
Population (2004)  - Density	5,390,000 (30th) 7.48/km² (30th)
GDP (2006)  - per capita	CNY 64.1 billion (30th) CNY 11,753 (23rd)
HDI (2005)	0.684 (medium) (27th)
Major nationalities	Han - 54% Tibetan - 23% Hui - 16% Tu - 4% Salar - 1.8% Mongol - 1.8%
Prefecture-level	8 divisions
County-level	43 divisions
Township-level†	429 divisions
ISO 3166-2	CN-63
Official website http://www.qh.gov.cn/ (Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data: 《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382 Source for nationalities data: 《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255 † As at December 31, 2004

Qinghai
Chinese name
Chinese:	青海
Transliterations Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Qīnghǎi - Wade-Giles: Ch'ing-hai - Postal Map: Tsinghai (Listen (help·info))
Manchu name
Manchu:	Huhu Noor
Mongolian name
Mongolian:	Köke Naγur
Tibetan name
Tibetan:	མཚོ་སྔོན་
Transliterations - Wylie: mtsho sngon

Qinghai (help·info) (青海, qīnghǎi) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after the enormous Qinghai Lake. It borders Gansu on the northeast, the Xinjiang Autonomous Region on the northwest, Sichuan on the southeast, and Tibet Autonomous Region on the southwest.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Administrative divisions 4 Politics 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Transportation 9 Tourism 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

Qinghai is a relatively recent province of China. The area has been an ethnic melting pot for a long time, mixing Han (Chinese), Mongolian, Tibetan, and Turkic influences. It was a battleground during the Tang and the subsequent Chinese dynasties when they fought against successive Tibetan dynasties.^[1]

In 1928, it became a province of the then Republic of China. Subsequently it became the primary base for warlord Ma Bufang, before it became a province under the People's Republic in 1949.

Qinghai is located on the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. The Yellow River (Huang He) originates in the middle of the province, while the Yangtze and Mekong have their sources in the southern part.

The average elevation of Qinghai is about 3000 metres above sea level. Mountain ranges include the Tangula Mountains and Kunlun Mountains. Its average temperature is approximately -5 to 8°C, with January temperatures ranging from -18.2 to -7°C and July temperatures ranging from 5 to 21°C. It is also prone to heavy winds as well as sandstorms from February to April.

Qinghai Lake (Koko Nor) is the largest lake in the People's Republic of China.

Further information: List of administrative divisions of Qinghai

Qinghai is administratively divided into one prefecture-level city (Xining), one prefecture (Haidong Prefecture), and six autonomous prefectures: Haibei, Hainan, Huangnan, Golog, Gyêgu, and Haixi. All of these are in turn divided into four districts, two county-level cities, thirty counties, and seven autonomous counties.

Secretaries of the CPC Qinghai Committee:　

1. Zhang Zhongliang (张仲良): 1949-1954
2. Zhao Shoushan (赵寿山): 1952　
3. Gao Feng (高峰): 1954-1961　
4. Wang Zhao (王昭): 1961-1962 　
5. Yang Zhilin (杨植霖): 1962-1966
6. Liu Xianquan (刘贤权): 1967-1977 　
7. Tan Qilong (谭启龙): 1977-1979 　
8. Liang Buting (梁步庭): 1979-1982 　
9. Zhao Haifeng (赵海峰): 1982-1985　
10. Yin Kesheng (尹克升): 1985-1997　
11. Tian Chengping (田成平): 1997-1999　
12. Bai Enpei (白恩培): 1999-2001
13. Su Rong (苏荣): 2001-2003
14. Zhao Leji (赵乐际): 2003-2007
15. Qiang Wei (强卫): 2007-incumbent

Governors of Qinghai　

1. Zhao Shoushan (赵寿山): 1950-1952 　
2. Zhang Zhongliang (张仲良): 1952-1954 　
3. Sun Zuobin (孙作宾): 1954-1958　
4. Sun Junyi (孙君一): 1958
5. Yuan Renyuan (袁任远): 1958-1962　
6. Wang Zhao (王昭): 1962-1967　
7. Liu Xianquan (刘贤权): 1967-1977 　
8. Tan Qilong (谭启龙): 1977-1979 　
9. Zhang Guosheng (张国声): 1979-1982　
10. Huang Jingbo (黄静波): 1982-1985　
11. Song Ruixiang (宋瑞祥): 1985-1989　
12. Jin Jipeng (金基鹏): 1989-1992　
13. Tian Chengping (田成平): 1992-1997
14. Bai Enpei (白恩培): 1997-1999　
15. Zhao Leji (赵乐际): 1999-2003
16. Yang Chuantang (杨传堂): 2003-2004
17. Song Xiuyan (宋秀岩): 2004-incumbent

Qinghai's economy is amongst the smallest in all of China. Its nominal GDP for 2006 was just 64.1 billion RMB (8.3 billion USD) and contributes to a little over 0.3% of the entire country's economy. Per capita GDP was 11,753 RMB (1,519 USD).

Its heavy industry includes iron and steel productions, located near its capital city of Xining. Oil and natural gas from the Chaidamu Basin have also been an important contributor to the economy.

The population of Qinghai is approximately 5.2 million, among which the Han account for 54.5%. Other groups include the Tibetans 20.87%, Tu, Hui, Salar, and Mongols.

Qinghai's culture is heavily influenced by China and Tibet, given the close proximities as well as a shared history. Qinghai was also vital to such European eras as the Reformation, and the Renaissance as numerous Chinese inventions like the compass and the printing press all flowed through the Silk Road, which was vital to the economy.

See also: Transportation in China

The Lanqing Railway, running between Lanzhou, Gansu and Xining, the province's capital, was completed in 1959 and is the major transportation route in and out of the province. A continuation of the line, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway through Golmud, has become one of the most ambitious projects in PRC history. It was completed in October 2005 and now links Tibet with the rest of China through Qinghai.

Six National Highways run through the province. Xining Caojiabu Airport provides service to Beijing, Lanzhou, Golmud and Delingha.

Many tourist attractions center on Xining, the provincial seat of Qinghai.

The city itself has such notable stops, including the Great Mosque of Xining (清真大寺, qīngzhēn dà sì) and North Mountain Temple (北山寺, běishān sì).

Outside Xining lie two notable attractions:

• The Kumbum Monastery (Tibetan: sKu 'bum dKon pa)(塔尔寺, tǎ'ěr sì), one of the most important Yellow Hat Sect monasteries, lies 30 km outside Xining. It also features the Hall of Yak Butter Sculptures.

• Qinghai Lake (青海湖, qīnghǎi hú) is another tourist attraction, albeit further from Xining than Kumbum. The lake is the largest saltwater lake in China, and is also located on the "Roof of the World," the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The lake itself lies at 3,600m elevation. The surrounding area is made up of rolling grasslands and populated by ethnic Tibetans. Most pre-arranged tours stop at Bird Island (鸟岛, niǎo dǎo). An international bicycle race takes place annually from Xining to Qinghai Lake.

• Geladandong

• Large map of Qinghai

v • d • e Province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China
Provinces	Anhui · Fujian · Gansu · Guangdong · Guizhou · Hainan · Hebei · Heilongjiang · Henan · Hubei · Hunan · Jiangsu · Jiangxi · Jilin · Liaoning · Qinghai · Shaanxi · Shandong · Shanxi · Sichuan · Taiwan1 · Yunnan · Zhejiang
Autonomous regions	Guangxi · Inner Mongolia · Ningxia · Tibet · Xinjiang
Municipalities	Beijing · Chongqing · Shanghai · Tianjin
Special administrative regions	Hong Kong · Macau
1 Taiwan is claimed by the PRC but administered by the Republic of China.

Prefecture-level divisions of Qinghai Prefecture-level city: Xining Prefecture: Haidong Autonomous prefectures: Golog | Haibei | Hainan | Haixi | Huangnan | Yushu

List of Qinghai County-level divisions