Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region lies at 35'14, -39'23 N and 104'17, -107'39 E on the upper reaches of the Yellow River in western China. It neighbors Shaanxi province to the east, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the northwest and Gansu province to the south. Since ancient times, Ningxia has been a popular place for people of different nationalities to gain access to the central plains of China, Central Asia and the vast desert to its north.
 

The distance of Ningxia from the northernmost to southernmost point is 456 kilometers, while varying from a minimum of only 50 Kilometers to a maximum of 250 Kilometers from east to west. Covering an area of 66.4 thousand square kilometers, Ningxia is one of the smallest provinces of China.

The Yellow River runs through 12 cities and counties of Ningxia and its length inside this region comes to 397 Kilometers. The natural drop of the river here reaches 197 meters and the average yearly passing discharge is 32.5 billion cubic meters, of which 4 billion is distributed to Ningxia by the central government. Irrigation using Yellow River water in this region has a history of over 2000 years.

Ningxia is 1,090-2,000 meters above sea level and the south is higher than the north. From north to south, it passes through the Helan Mountain ranges, Ningxia Plain, Ordos plateau, loess plateau, and Liupan Mountain area.

With the highest peak of 3,556 meters, the Helan Mountain range stretches unbroken for more than 200 kilometers and was called by ancient people as the "guard in the north and throat of the deserts". Stopping and weakening the cold current coming from the northwest and the sand currents of the Tengger Desert, the Helan Mountain range is the watershed of the outflowing river region and the inflowing region, the dividing line of the monsoon climatic region and non-monsoon region, and the natural barrier of the Ningxia Plain.

As part of the plain of the Yellow River, Ningxia Plain, where the river runs widely and smoothly, covers an area of 17,000 square kilometers. The terrain of both banks is relatively flat and is good for irrigation and farming. There is a completed network of canals and ditches on the plain to guarantee sufficient water supply and avoid the twin threats of flood and drought, bringing about consecutive bumper harvests.

Situated in the south of Ningxia, Liupan Mountain is the source and watershed of the Pingshui, Jing and hulu tributaries of the Yellow River, and is also a natural forest. With humid air and luxuriant vegetation, the mountainous area has a reputation as a "wet island" of the loess plateau. 

Environment

                                                  

Climate
Located inland, Ningxia is typical of a temperate zone continental climate region. The summer is short and dry due to the southeast monsoon, while winter is long and has a changeable temperature because of the northwest monsoon. Humid and rainy most time, the mountain region is colder than other places, especially in summer, and has a short frost-free period; In the north, evaporation is heavy because of much sunlight and there is less precipitation and big difference in temperatures of day and night. As an old saying goes, "wearing fur in the morning and silk at noon; eating water melons around a stove", describing the climatic features of autumn.

You can feel a distinct change of the four seasons. With an average annual mean temperature of 5-9 degrees centigrade. Ningxia sees its hottest time in July and the coldest in January.

Richly endowed soil, developed agriculture and superior natural conditions have won a reputation of the "southern plain beyond the Great Wall"  for Ningxia.

                                                        

 

Biological Environment
Ningxia is surrounded by three big deserts. To its west, middle, and north is provisionally the Tengger Desert, part of the Mu Us Desert, and some sand lands that were formerly farming land. In controlling sands, Ningxia changed its former idea of pure biological construction. It combined sand control with expansion of living space. In controlling sands, the earth utilization structure was rationally readjusted. To improve plant distribution, 3.8 thousand hectares that had been cultivated too early were restored. The government also publicized highly efficient farming methods, and some advanced agricultural technologies, like stereoscopic culture and film covering culture, were introduced.

The success in controlling sands of Shapotou was called a "miracle", arousing close attention of international environmental circles and drawing experts from many countries to inspect it. The United Nations has organized seminars on sand-control in Shapotou several times to introduce its experience. The fruit of sand-control in this region has won the special prize for scientific progress of the State and the sand-consolidation forest in Zhongwei was awarded recognition in the “the top 500” in environmental protection by UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program).

                                                       

In the past two decades, Ningxia has continued to carry out the afforestation program. Aimed to protect soil and conserve water sources, some important biological projects of forestry have been conducted in the mountain area of the south. The stable afforestation area each year amounts to 13.3 thousand hectares, making the total forest area of 190 thousand hectares and controlling 5,500 square kilometers of eroded soil.

After several decades of efforts, the forest area of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has increased from 68.7 thousand hectares in 1977 to the present 366,700 hectares, raising the forest coverage rate to 6.3 percent.

To protect the environment and to boost the sustainable development of the economy and society, the Ningxia Autonomous Government lays great emphasis on pollution control. The government demanded 13 units that had serious pollution problems to change their ways within a limited period. Also, regular tests and inspections on pollution control were organized by the government. The management of pollution of the environmental protection sectors was executed strictly according to the relative law.

                                        

The control of pollution has made the air quality of Ningxia much better than before. Now, some urban environment protection zones have been built, including a 94.63 square kilometer smoke and dust control zone and a 49.65 square kilometer noise control zone. The rate of the urban qualified drinking sources comes to 100 percent.

 

                                                                                                                          Population

                                         

According to statistics of the related government departments in February 7th, 2007, under the unified arrangement of Public Order Administration Contingents of Public Security Department of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regional, the general population of the whole region has broken the 6 million mark up to December 31st, 2006, estimated by the Population Information System Database.

It is displayed in the statistics that among the 6 million people, registered permanent population is 6,007,671, of which 3,075,395 for male, 2,932,276 for female, and the sex ratio is 105:100. The populations of the 5 prefecture-level cities respectively are: 1,446,816 for Yinchuan, 730,076 for Shizuishan, 1,276,595 for Wuzhong, 1,512,268 for Guyuan, and 1,041,916 for Zhongwei.

Besides Han nation, there are other 46 minority nationalities counted up to a population of 2,177,332, which occupies 36.24% of the whole population. The Hui ethnic group constitutes most of the minority nationalities totaling 2,137,147. The populations of other minority nationalities are respectively: 27,556 for Man, 6,136 for Mongolia, 1,124 for Dongxiang, 936 for Tujia, 650 for Zhuang, 532 for Miao, 498 for Tibetan, 415 for Korean, 363 for Tu, 344 for Li, 286 for Uygur, 247 for Xibo, 193 for Dong, 123 for Yi; the nations' population under 100 are: Yao, Buyi, Bai, Yugu, Dahaner, Sala, Zhen, Qiang, Russian, Maonan, Qilao, Gaoshan, Baoan, and Naxi; the nations' population under 10 are: Hani, Pumi, Shui, Ewenke, Keerkezi, Elunchun, Nu, Lagu, Hezhe; the population of the nations like Uzbek, Tataer, and Nuoji is only 1.

The agricultural population is 3,820,333 occupied 63.59% of the whole; nonagricultural is 2,187,338 occupied 36.41%, among which the population changed from agricultural to non-agricultural status in household registration is 45,380.

In accordance with statistics, the population density of Ningxia is 116 persons per square kilometers.