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Qinghai
Province
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Location:
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situated on the northeastern
part of the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau. The
Yellow River originates in the middle
of the province, while the Yangtze and
Mekong have their headwaters in the
southern part. |
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Area:
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720,000 sq km |
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Climate:
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Qinghai, which is located
more than 1, 500 km from the East China
coast, has little rainfall and plenty
of sunshine. The annual precipitation
averages 700 mm in the river valleys
in the eastern part, while that in the
Qaidam Basin in western Qinghai is below
50 mm. In some places it is only a little
more than 10 mm. The province has a
mean annual temperature of 0¡ãto
-8¡ãC in the Southern Qinghai
Plateau and the Qilian Mountain Area
and 0¡ã£6¡ãC
in other parts. |
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provincial capital:
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Xining |
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Population:
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5.18 millions (March 2001)
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Ethnic groups:
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Tibetan, Hui, Tu, Salar,
Mongol and other ethnic groups. |
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Major Cities:
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Agriculture:
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Qinghai is an important
livestock breeding center. Its livestock
includes sheep, yaks, pian niu (crossbreed
of bulls and yaks) and horses. Qinghai
produces large quantities of sheep wool,
meat, leather and sausage casings for
other parts of the country. It is an
important producer of medicinal materials
such as caterpillar fungus, antlers,
musk and rhubarb. Qinghai Lake is famous
for its scaleless naked carp. The province
grows spring wheat, highland barley,
broad beans, potatoes and rapeseed.
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Industry:
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Qinghai is
rich in petroleum, lead, zinc, copper,
chromium, cobalt, nickel, iron, asbestos,
mirabilite, gypsum, lake salt, potassium,
boron and coal. The Qilian is called
the "treasure mountains" and
the Qaidam the "treasure basin".
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