Ürümqi (redirected from Urumqi, China)

Ürümqi or Urumchi (both: rm`chē), city (1994 est. pop. 1,130,300), capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, NW China, in the Dzungarian basin. Ürümqi is an administrative and commercial center at the junction of several caravan routes from the Central Asian Republics, Lanzhou (Gansu prov.), and Kashi (Kashgar). It is linked to the Chinese rail network via Lanzhou. The main industrial center of Xinjiang, Ürümqi has benefited from the discovery of large petroleum deposits at Karamay. It has oil refineries, iron- and steelworks, textile mills, and plants manufacturing motor vehicles, agricultural machinery, chemicals, machine tools, and cement. Coal, tin, and silver mines are nearby. The population is mostly Uigur with minorities of Manchus, Chinese, and Kazakhs. Chinese influence began about 122 B.C. when Emperor Wu Ti of the Han dynasty conquered E Xinjiang. Ürümqi is the seat of Xinjiang Univ.; there is also a medical college, several technical institutes, and a museum with a rare collection of mummies. The city was called Dihua (Tihwa) until 1954.

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Ürümqi

 or Urumchi or Wu-lu-mu-ch'i

City (pop., 2003 est.: 1,401,990), capital of Xinjiang autonomous region, northwestern China. Situated along the northern face of the Tien Shan, it first came under Chinese control in the 7th–8th century and became an important centre for caravans en route to Turkistan. The Uighurs had control from c. 750 until the resumption of Chinese rule in the 18th century. The city was held by Muslim rebels in 1864–76. When the province of Xinjiang was established in 1884, Ürümqi became its capital. It grew rapidly into the province's most important city and the centre of trade in Central Asia. It is located in a coal-mining and petroleum-producing area; its chief manufactures include iron and steel, agricultural machinery, and chemicals.