Ngari

　　The Ngari Prefecture is located in the western part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, at the center of the Changtang Plateau on the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It begins at Zhamai Mountain, west of the Tanggula Mountains, in the east, bordering on the Nagqu Prefecture, and stretches to the western section of the Himalayas in the west and southwest, bordering on India and Nepal. It joins the middle section of the Kangdese Mountains, neighboring the Zongba and Sagar counties of the Xigaze Prefecture, and ends on the southern side of the Kunlun Mountains in the north, neighboring the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It covers a vast stretch of land and has a sparse population. The border totals 1,116 km, with 57

Black-neck cranes

passageways linking the prefecture to other places. The prefecture stretches 600 km from east to west and measures 550 km from north to south, covering a total area of 34,500 square km.
　　The Ngari Prefecture is made up by seven counties, Burang, Gar, Ge'gyai, Gerze, Choqen, Zhada and Rutog, which hold 30 districts, 106 townships, and 359 administrative villages. Burang, Zhada, Gar and Rutog, in the southwestern and middle parts of the prefecture, engage mainly in agriculture, supplemented by animal husbandry, while Choqen, Gerze and Ge'gyai, in the east, engage purely in animal husbandry. The prefecture has a total population of 69,000. With a density of 0.23 people per square km, Ngari is the largest prefecture in China in geographic area, with the smallest density of population. The number of peasants and herdsmen totals 58,807, making up 85.2 percent of the total population.
　　Ngari boasts of animal husbandry and a booming mining industry. A total of 18.6 million hectares of grasslands are available for herding more than 2.7 million domestic animals. The annual output of wool tops 1,000 tons, cashmere over 170 tons, ox hair about 60 tons, meat 5,609 tons and milk products 6,200 tons. More than 30 types of mineral resources have been found, which, located in 254 mines, include salt, boron, aluminum, miabilite, chromium, silver and gold.

Snowlotus on high mountains

　　Ngari is also rich in energy resources, water, wind and geothermal energy in particular. There are over 80 rivers and 60 lakes in the prefecture. The noted rivers include Shiquanhe, Kongquehe, Maquanhe, Xiangquanhe, Garhe and Choqenhe. The flow path totals 9,500 km and the drainage area covers near 60,000 square km. The reserves of water resources reach 20,000 kw. The thermal energy is distributed along the Shiquanhe-Yarlung Zangbo River geothermal belt, the Kunlun-Hoh Xil geothermal belt, and the Kangdese-Nyainqentanglha geothermal belt. Ngari belongs to the Category II wind zone, with an annual average wind velocity above 3.2 meters per second and a gale frequency of at least grade eight. Gales blow about 149 days in a year.
　　Ngari is where the Himalayas, Kangdese and Kalakunlun ranges meet, about 4,500 meters above sea level on an average. Its general terrain is high in the north and south and low in the middle. The average annual temperature is zero degree. The four large rivers, Shiquanhe, Xiangquanhe, Maquanhe and Kongquehe, which originate from the Kangdese and Himalayas, flow northwest, southwest and southeast separately into India and Nepal, becoming the upper reaches of the Indus River, Sutlei River, Brahmaputra River and the Ganges, which finally join the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. Ngari has therefore been described as "on the roof of the world and at the head of waters." Here, there are rolling mountains and vast stretches of field. Lakes dot the vast territory.