Shule County, also known as Yengisheher County or Yengixahar County, is a county of Kashgar Prefecture, in Xinjiang, China. It is located to the south of Kashgar. In ancient times, the Shule area was once the home to a Xiyu oasis civilisation, the Shule Kingdom.

Etymology

Shule originally referred to Kashgar's new city, built by Han Chinese settlers, located 6 mi from the old one. Shule may have been an attempt by the Chinese to transcribe the Sanskrit name for Kashgar, Śrīkrīrāti (lit. 'fortunate hospitality'). The county's Uyghur name literally means "Kashgar New City".

History

On May 31, 2012, Sidik Kurban was sentenced by Shule County Intermediate People's Court to fifteen years in jail and five years deprivation of political rights for 'inciting ethnic separatism' related to involvement in 'illegal religious activities'. For a decade, he had overseen home-based religious schools for eighty-six students.

Administrative divisions

The county includes 3 towns and 12 townships.

Economy

, there was about 85,400 acres (555,448 mu) of cultivated land in Shule.

Demographics

As of 2015, 350,301 of the 377,029 residents of the county were Uyghur, 25,709 were Han Chinese and 1,019 were from other ethnic groups. As of 1999, 93% of the population of Shule County was Uyghur and 6.7% of the population was Han Chinese.

Transportation

Shule is served by China National Highway 315 and the Kashgar-Hotan Railway.

Notable persons

Historical maps

Maps including Shule: