East Turkistan at a Glance
The People’s Republic of China has forcibly occupied and systematically colonized East Turkistan, comprising the Tarim Basin, Junggar Basin, and Kengsu — territories historically known as the homeland of Turkic peoples, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, and Tatars. This aggressive occupation occurred in December 1949, following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China by the Chinese Communist Party.
East Turkistan includes what is presently designated as the “Xinjiang” Uyghur Autonomous Region, alongside parts of western Gansu and Qinghai Province — areas subjected to Chinese incursion and subsequent domination.
Beijing’s imposition of the colonial term “Xinjiang (The Colony/New Territory)” upon East Turkistan is not only deeply offensive but also reflects a blatant disregard for East Turkistan’s rich and distinct historical, national, and ethnic identity. Throughout its unique history, East Turkistan has maintained a distinctive, sovereign, national and religious identity separate from China’s. Except during brief periods of foreign occupation, East Turkistan has also maintained a separate and sovereign political and territorial identity.
East Turkistan
Location of East Turkistan
Land Size: Covering an area of 1,828,418 square kilometers (705,956 square miles), East Turkistan’s expanse is over two and a half times the size of Texas in the United States, nearly three times larger than Ukraine, and over five times the size of Germany. If East Turkistan were currently an independent state, free from Chinese occupation, it would rank as the 16th largest country globally, immediately following Sudan and ahead of Libya. East Turkistan extends about 2,100 kilometers (1,305 miles) from east to west and 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) from north to south.
Political Status: Occupied country (since December 22, 1949) and without United Nations’ Representation.
Administration: Under Chinese occupation, East Turkistan has been divided into the following administrative units created by the Chinese: a) Uyghur Autonomous Region, b) Subei Mongol Autonomous County, Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County, Dunhuang (Dukhan) City, and Guazhou County in Gansu Province, c) Lenghu Administrative Zone, and the western portion of Magnai Administrative Zone in Qinghai Province.
Population: The population and demographics of East Turkistan have been severely altered since the Chinese occupation began in 1949, when Uyghur and other Turkic populations were over 9 million, according to Mao Zedong. Official Chinese statistics from 2020 place the total population at 25.85 million, with Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz comprising 13.5 million. However, Chinese statistics are considered unreliable due to the Chinese government’s practice of manipulating statistics and inconsistency with historical figures. The East Turkistan Government in Exile, using historical data, contends the true Turkic population likely exceeded 40 million before China’s genocidal campaign in 2014. Historically, Turkic peoples were over 90% of the population prior to 1949, but this demographic has been significantly altered by systematic colonization, genocide, and population control measures. The illegal Chinese (Han and Hui) colonist population in East Turkistan is estimated to be around 12 million.
Population in Exile: There are over 1 million East Turkistanis (mostly Uyghurs) living in diaspora communities across the globe. The largest diaspora community is in the Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. There are also significant diaspora communities in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Europe, North America and Australia.
Major Rivers: Tarim, Ertish (Irtysh in Kazakhstan and Russia), Illi, Konchi (Kaidu), Ulungur (Bulgan in Mongilia), Qaraqash, Yarkand (also known as Zarafshan), and Manas.
Major Lakes: Ulungur Lake, Baghrash Lake, Ibinur Lake, Sayram Lake, Lop Nur (dried out), Ayaghqum Lake, and Manas Lake.
Major Mountain Ranges: Tengri Tagh (“Tian Shan”), Alta, Qurum, Altun, Pamir Mountain, and Barakol
Major Deserts: Taklimakan Desert, Gobi Desert and Qurbantunggut Desert.
Highest Elevation: Chogir Peak (“K2”) – 8,611 m (28,251 ft)
Lowest Elevation: Turpan Depression 155 metres (508 ft) below sea level.
Native Wildlife: East Turkistan is home to 699 species of wild fauna, including 85 species of fish, 7 species of amphibians, 45 species of reptiles and 137 species of mammals. More than 4,000 species of wild flora have been identified. It’s most popular wildlife includes the Caspian tiger (now extinct), Eurasian lynx, Snow leopard, Eurasian gray wolf, sable, wolverine, Prezwalski’s horse, Altay wapiti (elk), Tengri Tagh wapiti (elk), Bactrian deer, Yarkand deer, Central Asian red deer, Saiga antelope, Marco Polo Sheep, Yak, Bactrian camel, Eurasian beaver, Eurasian red squirrel, Dzungarian hamster, Yarkand hare, Eurasian water vole, Eurasian spoonbill, Central Asian salamander, Big-head schizothoracin, and the Lenok (Asiatic trout)
Economy: Agriculture, animal husbandry, light industry, and trade.
Natural Resources: Land, biological resources, petroleum, natural gas, gold, silver, coal, uranium, beryllium, poly silicon, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, asbestos, sylvite, limestone, gems, and jade. There are some 142 mineral types were found in East Turkistan, including 33 kinds of metallic minerals, 60 kinds of non-metallic minerals and 6 kinds of energy minerals.
Native Literacy Rate: Over 90% prior to removal of native Turkic (Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz) language classes. As a result of China’s forced assimilation and genocidal policies, native literacy is now estimated to be around 60%.
Page last updated: December 2023