Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County

Barköl County 巴里坤县 باركۆل ناھىيىسى
Autonomous County
Barköl Kazakh Autonomous County 巴里坤哈萨克自治县 باركۆل قازاق ئاپتونوم ناھىيىسى باركول قازاق اۆتونوميالى اۋدانى
Country	People's Republic of China
Autonomous region	Xinjiang
Prefecture	Hami
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)

Barköl Kazak Autonomous County (sometimes Barkul or Balikul in English) is part of Kumul Prefecture in Xinjiang and has an area of 38,445.3 km² (14,843.8 sq mi). It forms part of the China–Mongolia border on the county's north, while bordering Hami City in the south and Changji's Mori Kazakh Autonomous County in the east.

Barköl was made an autonomous county on October 1, 1954. It is noted for camel and horse breeding with the Barköl horse well known throughout China. Due to the large number of camels, which is unparalleled in China, the county is nicknamed of the "county of ten thousand camels".

Ethnic groups in Barkol, 2000 census

Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County
Barkol Lake and Barkol, astronaut photograph from ISS
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	巴里坤哈薩克自治縣
Simplified Chinese	巴里坤哈萨克自治县
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bālǐkūn Hāsàkèzú Zìzhìxiàn IPA [pálìkʰwə́n xásâkʰɤ̂tsǔ tsɹ̩̂ʈʂɻ̩̂ɕjɛ̂n]
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	鎮西縣
Simplified Chinese	镇西县
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhènxī Xiàn
Uyghur name
Uyghur	باركۆل قازاق ئاپتونوم ناھىيىسى‎
Transcriptions Latin Yëziqi Barköl Qazaq Aptonom Nahiyisi Yengi Yeziⱪ Barkɵl K̡azak̡ Aptonom Nah̡iyisi Siril Yëziqi Баркөл Қазақ Аптоном Наһийиси
Kazakh name
Kazakh	باركول قازاق اۆتونوميالى اۋدانى Баркөл Қазақ аутономиялық ауданы Barkól Qazaq aýtonomııalyq aýdany

Ethnic group	Population	Percentage
Han	55,169	64.18%
Kazakh	29,236	34.01%
Mongol	1,173	1.36%
Hui	164	0.19%
Uyghur	134	0.16%
Manchu	26	0.03%
Tatar	22	0.03%
Russian	11	0.01%
Yi	9	0.01%
Others	20	0.02%

Lake Barkol

Lake Barkol is an alkali lake in a closed basin located at 43.668°N 92.803°E / 43.668; 92.803. Current rainfall averages 210 millimetres (8.3 in), while the annual evaporation rate is 2,250 millimetres (89 in). Ancient shorelines show up as concentric rings on the satellite photo at right, indicating that water levels have varied many times in the past. One study identified five climates at Lake Barkol over the past 8,000 years, ranging from warm and wet to cold and wet and finally cold and dry at present. The average annual temperature in the area is now just 1 °C (34 °F), though temperatures swing from extreme highs (33.5 °C (92.3 °F)) to extreme lows (−43.6 °C (−46.5 °F)).