Karamay Municipality Overview
Location: Karamay is situated in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at the edge of the Junggar Basin. The Tianshan Mountains zigzag south of Karamay, and the road mileage between Karamay and Urumqi is 313 kilometers (194 miles).
Kelamayi is the first large oil field found in 1955 after the liberation of our country. "Kelamayi " is the transliteration of Uygur " black oil ". It got the name from a natural asphalt mound –Qinyou Mountain located in the east corner of the urban area. On October 29, 1955, the Kelamayi No. 1 Well began to send out oil and the Kelamayi oil field was found. In May 1958, Kelamayi city was set up with the approval of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It was the municipality directly under the Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Through the hard struggle of more than 30 years, the Gobi and barren land of the past has already built into a new city with petroleum industry as the mainstay.
Administratively, Kelamayi consists of 4 districts and 2 towns and 1 village. It has jurisdiction over some areas such as Kelamayi, Dushanzi, etc. The whole area is 9500 square kilometers. The population in Kelamayi is about 400,000. The Han nationality accounts for 76.24 percent of the total population. More than 30 ethnic minorities account for 23.7 percent of the total population, such as Uygur nationality, Kazak nationality, Hui nationality, Mongol nationality, Man nationality, Xibo nationality, Russia nationality, etc..
The main scenic spots in Kelamayi are Black Oil Mountain, the White Oil Mountain Park, the Wind Town, Well Num.1, etc.
Physical Features: The terrain of Karamay is long and narrow, higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast. Generally speaking, its western and northern territories are occupied by mountains, while its central and eastern parts are vast open flat spaces.
Climate: Karamay has a typical continental climate characterized by a lack of rain and quite windy spring and autumn. Winter is extremely cold and summer is roasting, generating a large temperature difference between these two seasons. Comparatively, its spring and autumn are short during a year.
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