Dzungaria

45°00′N 85°00′E / 45.000°N 85.000°E / 45.000; 85.000

Dzungaria
Dzungaria (Junggar Basin)   Southern Xinjiang (Tarim Basin)
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	准噶尔
Traditional Chinese	準噶爾
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhǔngá'ěr Wade–Giles Chun3-ka2'-erh3 IPA [ʈʂwə̀nkǎàɚ]
Beijiang
Chinese	北疆
Literal meaning	Northern Xinjiang
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Běijiāng Wade–Giles Pei3-chiang1 IPA [pèɪtɕjáŋ]
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic	Зүүнгар нутаг
Uyghur name
Uyghur	جوڭغار‎
Transcriptions Latin Yëziqi Jongghar Yengi Yeziⱪ Jongƣar Siril Yëziqi Җоңғар

Dzungaria^[a] (/(d)zʊŋˈɡɛəriə/; from the Mongolian words züün gar, meaning 'left hand'), also known as Northern Xinjiang or Beijiang,^[1] is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. Bound by the Altai Mountains to the north and the Tian Shan mountain range to the south, Dzungaria covers approximately 777,000 km² (300,000 sq mi), and borders Kazakhstan to the west and Mongolia to the east. In contexts prior to the mid-18th century Dzungar genocide, the term "Dzungaria" could cover a wider area, coterminous with the Oirat-led Dzungar Khanate.

Although Dzungaria is geographically, historically, and ethnically distinct from the Tarim Basin or Southern Xinjiang (Nanjiang), the Manchu-led Qing dynasty integrated both areas into one province, Xinjiang. Dzungaria is Xinjiang's center of heavy industry, generates most of the region's GDP, and houses its political capital Ürümqi (Oirat for 'beautiful pasture'). As such, Dzungaria continues to attract intraprovincial and interprovincial migration to its cities. In contrast to the Tarim Basin, Dzungaria is relatively well integrated with the rest of China by rail and trade links.^[2]

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