Kashgar Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Kashgar 喀什市 قەشقەر شەھرى
County-level city
Id Kah mosque square
Location (red, labelled '1') within Kashgar Prefecture
Kashgar Location in Xinjiang
Country	People's Republic of China
Autonomous region	Xinjiang
Prefecture	Kashgar
Area (2018)
• County-level city	555 km² (214 sq mi)
• Urban	130 km² (50 sq mi)
• Metro	2,818 km² (1,088 sq mi)
Elevation	1,270 m (4,170 ft)
Population (2010 census)
• County-level city	506,640
• Density	912.9/km² (2,364.3/sq mi)
• Urban (2018)	1,020,000
• Metro	819,095
• Metro density	290.67/km² (752.82/sq mi)
Time zones	UTC+08:00 (CST)
	UTC+06:00 (Xinjiang Time (de facto))
Postal code	844000
Area code(s)	0998

Kashgar, officially known as Kashi, is an oasis city in Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. With a population of over 500,000, Kashgar has served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe for over 2,000 years.

Apakh Hoja tomb

At the convergence point of widely varying cultures and empires, Kashgar has been under the rule of the Chinese, Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan empires. The city has also been the site of a number of battles between various groups of people on the steppes.

Now administered as a county-level unit of the People's Republic of China, Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture, which has an area of 162,000 square kilometres (63,000 sq mi) and a population of approximately 4 million as of 2010. The city itself has a population of 506,640, and its urban area covers 15 km² (5.8 sq mi), though its administrative area extends over 555 km² (214 sq mi). The city was made into a Special Economic Zone in 2010, the only city in western China with this distinction.

Economy
Sights
Images for kids
See also

Economy

Kashgar Bazaar

The city has a very important Sunday market. Thousands of farmers from the surrounding fertile lands come into the city to sell a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. Kashgar’s livestock market is also very lively. Silk and carpets made in Hotan are sold at bazaars, as well as local crafts, such as copper teapots and wooden jewellery boxes.

In order to boost the economy in Kashgar region, the government classified the area as the sixth Special Economic Zone of China in May 2010.

The movie The Kite Runner was filmed in Kashgar. Kashgar and the surrounding countryside stood in for Kabul and Afghanistan, since filming in Afghanistan was not possible due to safety and security reasons.

Sights

Everyday life in Kashgar old city

Before its demolition, Kashgar's Old City had been called "the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia". It is estimated to attract more than one million tourists annually.

Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, is located in the heart of the city
People's Park, the main public park in central Kashgar
An 18 m (59 ft) high statue of Mao Zedong in Kashgar is one of the few large-scale statues of Mao remaining in China
The tomb of Afaq Khoja in Kashgar is considered the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. Built in the 17th century
Sunday Market in Kashgar is renowned as the biggest market in central Asia; a pivotal trading point along the Silk Road where goods have been traded for more than 2,000 years. The market is open every day but Sunday is the largest.

Images for kids

Kashgar in the Kushan Empire under Kanishka the Great
Camels traversing the old silk road in 1992
The Chinese Tang dynasty during its greatest extension, controlling large parts of Central Asia.
Mosque entrance in old Kashgar
Kashgar road scene, 1870s
Kashgar (c. 1759)
Kalmyk Archer, Kashgar Army in the 1870s
Night interview with Yakub Beg, King of Kashgaria, 1868
A view of the City of Kashgar in 1915
Colonel Mannerheim at the Russian Consulate in Kashgar, 1906
Sign marking previous Russian Consulate in Kashgar
Map of Kashgar (labeled as SU-FU (KASHGAR)) and surrounding region from the International Map of the World (1966)
Map including Kashgar (labeled as Kashi K'a-shih (Kashgar)) (DMA, 1983)
Cafe built on site of old British Consulate-General. Kashgar. 2011
Kashgari Musicians in 1915
Kashgar market
Woman on motorcycle. Kashgar. 2011
Uyghur family with two calves for sale at Kashgar market.
Kashgar's Sunday market.
Kashgar Airport
Kashgar railway station
Map of the region including Kashgar (1893)
Downtown Kashgar. 2011
Id Kah Mosque
Kashgar minaret at night
The tomb of Afaq Khoja
Mosque next to the tomb of Afaq Khoja.
Mao statue in the city square of Kashgar.
An old Kashgar city street.

Kashgar facts for kids

Contents

Economy

Sights

Images for kids

See also