Xinjiang |
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I. Basic Data |
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1. Name: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 2. Area: 1.6604 million square kilometers 3. Population: 19.25 million (the 2000 population census) 4. Capital: Urumqi 5. Geography: Xinjiang is situated in the northeastern border area of China. It borders Mongolia, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, among others. In China, it adjoins Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and other provinces. Its geographical position is at 73° 41' - 96° 18' east longitude and 34° 25' - 49° north latitude. Xinjiang is far from the sea on all sides and has a typical continental climate. 6. Natural Resources: Xinjiang is sparsely populated but is rich in resources.
7. Economy: The gross domestic product (GDP) of Xinjiang in 2000 was 136.436 billion Yuan, the total value of industrial and agricultural products 154.849 billion Yuan, and the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was 7,470 Yuan; total retail sales of consumer goods was 37.45 billion Yuan; gross volume of imports and exports was US$ 2.26 billion; financial revenue of the local finance was 9.55 billion Yuan; and grain output was 8.086 million tons. At present, Xinjiang's economy presents a good situation of "high increase and low inflation". There are bumper harvests in agriculture and rapid increases in industrial production. Investment, consumption and exports have maintained a certain degree of increase. The financial and monetary situation is regular. But at the same time, with economic development, there appear problems that cannot be ignored. The basis for further economic development is not stable yet; the pace of structural adjustment is still slow; the production management of state-owned enterprises is difficult; and the overall situation of the economy is still not ideal. 8. People's life: According to the statistics at the end of 2000, there were 6.939 million employees in Xinjiang, making up 36.05% of its total population. The per capita disposable income for urban residents was 5,817 Yuan and the per capita net income of farmers was 1,618 Yuan. The actual living standards of the rural-urban residents was further increased and their housing conditions were continuously improved. In the entire autonomous region, consumers' expenditure per capita of the urban residents was 4,666 Yuan. The dwelling space per capita for the urban and rural residents was 15.27 square meters and 17.25 square meters respectively. The average number of doctors per 10,000 persons was 24.59 and that of hospital beds per 10,000 persons was 35.7. 9. Education: According to the statistics to the end of 2000, in Xinjiang there were 20 colleges and universities with an enrolment of 72,867 students and 7,924 teachers; 2,000 secondary schools with an enrolment of 1,311,845 students and 89,211 teachers; and 6,718 primary schools with 2,477,413 students and 131,259 teachers. Xinjiang's educational undertakings continue to develop; basic education is continuously strengthened and various adult education approaches further developed. 10. National Composition: Xinjiang is a national autonomous region where many nationalities live in compact communities. It is not only composed of many nationalities, but the proportion of the national population is also very high. Over 90% of the population of six nationalities out of the 56 nationalities in China live in Xinjiang. When Xinjiang autonomous region was set up, 13 existing nationalities were confirmed. With the migration and moving, the number of nationalities keeps increasing. By the time of the national census in 1990, the number of nationalities in Xinjiang increased to 49. The population of the Han nationality makes up 37.50% of the total population in Xinjiang. The population of minority nationalities increased from 4.0424 million in 1949 to 9.4616 million in 1990, and then to 11.43 million in 2000. From 1990 to 2000, the annual growth rate of minority nationalities was 1.85%. |
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II. Population Situation |
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1. Size and Distribution According to the 2000 population census, Xinjiang's population was 19.25 million. Its population density was low, one of the provinces and autonomous regions with a low population density in China - 12 persons per square kilometer on the average. There is a great difference between the density of population distribution in Xinjiang. About 95% of its population are mainly distributed in an oasis which makes up 3.5% of the total area of Xinjiang. Population density in these areas is as high as 207 persons per square kilometer. The population is unevenly distributed. (1) The area suitable for people to live within Xinjiang is very limited. In Xinjiang, there are only about 70,700 square kilometers of oasis (4.2% of the total area of Xinjiang). However, over 90% of its total population live on the oasis. Its population density calculated by actual residential areas is close to that of the coastal areas. (2) The population distribution in each area is different. (3) Area distribution between nationalities is quite obvious. The areas with multiple-nationalities also show the characteristics of a multi-national area, and at the same time more prominently show the characteristics of an area inhabited by minority nationalities in a compact community. 2. Population History Changes in population development in Xinjiang during the decades from 1949 to the present can be generally divided into the following four stages. The first stage was the developing period from 1949 to 1958. Xinjiang's population increased from 4.3334 million to 5.8235 million with the annual increase rate being 3.34%. The second stage was from 1958 to 1962 with an increase of 4.67%. The third stage was from 1962 to 1978 with an annual increase of 3.61% and the fourth stage was from 1978 to the present, a period with a slow population increase. Generally speaking, the total population of Xinjiang increased from 4.334 million in 1949 to 19.25 million in 2000, a four-fold increase. 3. Population Structure by Sex and Age In 1949, the sex ratio was 107.49, in 1953 it increased to 110.21 and increased to a peak of 123.23 in 1960. After that, it gradually declined and then basically remained at 104 - 106. In 1990 when the fourth national census took place, the sex ratio was 106.67. According to the 2000 fifth population census, the sex ratio was 107.27. The data from the 2000 population census showed, the population of children in Xinjiang aged 0 - 14 made up 27.30% of the total population. The working age group aged 15 - 64 made up 68.17%. The elderly aged 65 and above made up 4.53%. The population age structure has entered the stable type of population and is progressing toward the old type population. The total population dependency ratio was 46.72%, in 2000, i.e. 40.09 for children and 6.63% for the elderly. 4. Fertility Level and Changes Population development in Xinjiang has experienced several stages since 1949. In the 1950s, its fertility rate remained at a relatively high level with an annual fertility rate above 30 per 1,000. Large fluctuations took place in the 1960s. Firstly, during the period of three difficult years in the early 1960s, the fertility rate dropped dramatically, to 25.16 per 1,000 in 1961. With the recovery of the economy, the fertility rate began to swing upward rapidly and in 1964 it reached the highest level in history, i.e. 42.26 per 1,000. During the period between 1962 and 1975, the fertility rate was fluctuating at a high level. The annual fertility rate reached as high as 37.24 per 1,000. After that, the fertility rate declined rapidly and basically remained at about 25 per 1,000 after entering the 1980s. Taking a general view of the changes in the fertility rate after the founding of the People's Republic, it may be seen that, before the 1980s, the fertility rate in Xinjiang kept rising and falling at a high level. After the 1980s, the fertility rate remained stable at a relatively low level, fluctuating between 21 and 25 per 1,000. After entering the 1990s, influenced by the increased number of women of childbearing age, the fertility rate presented a small upswing. But during recent years, it declined to below 20 per 1,000. The fertility rate in Xinjiang in 1997 was 19.66 per 1,000. 5. Mortality and Life Expectancy Since 1949, the mortality rate of Xinjiang has presented a trend of continuous decline, from 20.28 per 1,000 in 1949 down to 6.55 per 1,000 in 1997. During the whole period, except for the significant economic difficulties from 1959 to 1964, the mortality rate increased significantly and remained at a relatively high level, the mortality rate in the other years remained in decline continuously with a little fluctuation. Before 1949, life expectancy in Xinjiang was very low, less than 30 years. After the founding of the People's Republic, along with the rapid increase in the people's living standard and their general health, the mortality rate declined continuously and life expectancy increased by a big margin. Life expectancy was 60 years at the time of the third national census. At the time of the fourth national census, life expectancy was 62.59 years, i.e. 61.95 years for men and 63.26 years for women, much lower than the national level. 6. Marriage Status, Family Size and Type During the 1990 national census, the population aged 15 years and above in Xinjiang was 10.1472 million, of which number the unmarried totalled 2.8832 million, or 28.41% of the total. Most of them were senior middle school graduates. The married population was 6.5248 million, making up 65.30% of the total, of which the proportion of men was obviously lower than women; the same held true for the low age group, and the proportion in the urban areas was lower than in the rural areas. The number of persons divorced was 286,200, or 2.82% of the population aged 15 and above. Xinjiang was one of the provinces and autonomous regions with the highest proportion of people divorced in China. Among the divorced population, there were more males than females. Along with the years of educational attainment, the widowhood ratio and divorce ratio gradually declined. The widowhood rate was the highest for the population of illiterates and semi-literates. There were obvious differences between areas in terms of marital composition. Among the 12.173 million people aged 15 years and above in Xinjiang in 1997, 6.19 million were males and 5.983 million females. Of this number, there were 1.816 million unmarried males and 1.294 million unmarried females; 3.423 million males and 3.555 million females in their first marriage; 646,000 remarried males and 578,000 remarried females; 163,000 divorced males and 169,000 divorced females; and 142,000 widowed males and 378,000 widowed females. In 1999, among the 12.521 million population in the 15 and above group, unmarried people accounted 23.34%, the first marriage having spouses people accounted 62.43%, the non-first marriages having spouses people accounted 7.77%, the divorced people accounted 3.36%, and the widowed people accounted 4.10%. 7. Aging of the Population At the time of the national census in 1953, the population aged 60 and above then numbered 314,000; by the time of the national census in 1990, it increased to 944,600. During the last 10 years or so, the proportion of the older age population has been lower than the national mean value, which was due to the following reasons. (1) The family planning programme started earlier in other areas than in Xinjiang, so the scope of the declining fertility rate was larger than Xinjiang and the time to the decline was earlier than Xinjiang. (2) The mortality level of Xinjiang's population, especially the infant mortality rate was higher than the national level and the life expectancy was also lower than the national level. There was a great difference in the degree of population aging between various minority nationalities in Xinjiang. The level of aging of the Han nationality was lower than that of the minority nationalities. But it changed very rapidly. The level of aging was higher in the cities than in the rural areas. According to the 2000 population census data on aging in Xinjiang, the population aged 65 and above was 0.87 million, accounting for 4.53% of the province's total population. 8. Population Quality In history, Xinjiang has always been one of the provinces and autonomous regions with the lowest quality of population culturally. At the time of the founding of the People's Republic, the illiterate and semi-literate portion of the population made up over 95% of the total population. For the past 40 years and more, the Party and the government have always given great attention to the economic and cultural construction of the border areas inhabited by minority nationalities; as a result, the cultural quality of the minority nationalities in Xinjiang has taken a quantitative leap forward. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic, the average educational level for the population aged six and above in Xinjiang was less than grade one of primary school. But by the year 1990, the average number of years of education for the population aged six and above was 6.52 years. The focus of the literate population in Xinjiang has gradually transferred from education at the primary school level to that of junior and senior middle school. However, the population with a primary school cultural level still accounts for more than half of the total population. Besides, although the number of intellectuals with a college and university education level has been increasing very rapidly during recent years, the proportion of the group is still very small in terms of the total population. Compared with the provinces and autonomous regions with advanced economic development in China, there is still a certain gap. With the deepening of China's transformation and open policy, the cultural and educational undertakings in Xinjiang have developed greatly and those for the minority nationalities in Xinjiang have also changed dramatically. In 1990, the population of the minority nationalities aged six and above in Xinjiang numbered 7.7654 million, accounting for 82.07% of the total population of the minority nationalities. The minority nationalities having an educational level of primary school and above numbered 5.9359 million, or 76.44% of the minority population in the same age group. The average level in Xinjiang is 81.08%. Among the minority nationalities aged 15 and above, the population of illiterate and semi-literate people totalled 1.412 million, accounting for 24.68% of the minority nationalities of the same age group. The number of minority nationalities with an educational level of college/university was 90,100, which was 2.32 times higher than in 1982. In 1997, the number of students of minority nationalities in Xinjiang was 21,517 college students, 617,750 secondary school students and 1.7043 million primary school students. According to data of the 2000 population census, the population at age 6+ was 17.53 million in Xinjiang. Among them, 0.99 million at junior college and above and accounting 5.64%, 2.33 million at senior secondary/secondary technical school and accounting 13.27%, 5.30 million at junior secondary school and accounting 30.22%, 7.31 million at primary school and accounting 41.66%. 9. Migration and the Floating Population Xinjiang's population moved in and out of the province in large numbers with unbalanced regional distribution. According to registration statistics of the departments of public security, in 1997, the total in-migrants numbered 253,000; of this number, inter-regional in-migrants were 109,000 and inter-regional out-migrants 52,200. The migrants displayed various characteristics in different areas. (1) In the areas where the social environment was stable and the economy developed steadily, the number of in-migrants increased annually. (2) As some regiments of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps started a new movement to open up uncultivated land which absorbed a large number of people, the number of in-migrants remained at a high level. (3) Social stability and economic prosperity were important factors in bringing about the migration of population. The total number of transients (floating population) was 915,200, the majority of whom were male (the sex ratio was 296.36). In analyzing the places of origin of the floating population, 34.27% were characterized as intra-provincial migrants, 65.47% inter-provincial and 0.26% international. The major intention of the floating population was to gain economic benefits. Those who engaged in industry, farming, business, services and so on accounted for 70.26% of the total floating population. The other purposes were to travel on business, for tourism, and seeking refuge with and visiting relatives and friends. In 2000, the net migration rate was 4.87 per 1,000. 10. Population, Resources and the Environment Xinjiang is a region with large quantities of natural resources. Because of its vast land base, its natural resources are relatively rich and generous. The per capita resources there are the highest in China. But as the population in Xinjiang increased too rapidly, some resources are in short supply now. Thus, it is better to integrate population control with protection of natural resources in Xinjiang. When population increase is strictly controlled, special attention should also be paid to conserve and protect resources, increase the role of science and technology in developing the resources, and increase the effects from using those resources. |
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III. Family Planning |
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An organized and well-planned family planning program started in Xinjiang in 1975. There were three stages in its development as follows: The initial stage After the founding of the People's Republic, Xinjiang's population increased very rapidly, from 4.334 million in 1949 to 6.8633 million in 1960 with an annual progressive increase rate of 42.7 per 1,000. In 1954, the Xinjiang Department of Public Health transmitted the "Circular Regarding Improving Contraception and Induced Abortion Issued by the Ministry of Public Health of China", which cancelled the strict restriction on birth control and stipulated in explicit terms that there should be "no restriction on contraception and birth control for married men and women". Since then, contraceptives began to be provided openly in Xinjiang and induced abortion and the tubal ligation method of female sterilization began to be introduced in hospitals. In the 10 years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, as family planning was practiced in a very limited area, the fertility rate of Xinjiang as a whole was still at a relatively high level. At Urumqi City, where the Han nationality live in compact communities, the fertility rate declined remarkably in 1965, a drop of 1.035 percentage points. In the mid-1960s, the family planning program in Xinjiang was stopped because of serious interference during the Cultural Revolution and the population size increased during this period of anarchy. In the 10 years from 1966 to 1975, Xinjiang's population increased rapidly from 7.891 million to 11.54 million, an increase of 43.6%. A period of recovery and development The family planning program started again gradually in China in 1971. In the 1970s, contraceptives were provided free of charge in Xinjiang. The government encouraged late marriage and one couple having fewer than two children with an interval of four to five years. Party committees at various levels strengthened their leadership over the family planning work and carried out the work in accordance with the requirement for "later, longer and fewer" births. The stage of creating a new situation After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of China, keeping in accord with the principles and policies on family planning set out by the Party Central Committee, Xinjiang's family planning work adhered to the proceedings based on actual conditions, took measures suited to local conditions and attained considerable development.
Family planning situation of Xinjiang in 2000 The 2000 family planning prevalence rate in Xinjiang was 98.61%. Those couples with their first child accounted for 57.32% of the total; those with their second child 27.01% and third or more children 15.67%. The number of unintended births dropped year by year and family planning work developed steadily. The overall contraceptive prevalence rate was 82.71%. Existing issues
Since 1975, the family planning programme in Xinjiang has been conducted in a planned way and remarkable results have been achieved, which can be seen as follows. The momentum of rapid population increase has been checked. The birth rate and natural increase have declined respectively from 33.10 per 1,000 and 24.36 per 1,000 in 1975 to 21.53 per 1,000 and 13.85 per 1,000 in 1993. The decline in the two rates for the Han nationality was especially obvious. Since the 1980s, the birth rate of the Han ranged from 9 per 1,000 to 13 per 1,000 and the natural increase rate ranged from 8 per 1,000 to 11 per 1,000. The total fertility rate (TFR) for the region was 5.14 children per woman in 1975; it declined to 3.13 in 1990. The family planning prevalence rate and contraceptive prevalence rate increased. The two rates for the Han nationality increased respectively from 66.5% and 68.44% in 1980 to 95.80% and 88.80% in 1992. And the two rates for the minority nationalities increased respectively from 76.15% and 43.87% in 1989 to 83% and 63.72% in 1992. Great changes have taken place in concepts about marriage and childbearing; it has gradually become a new social habit to practice family planning. In the whole region, 350,700 couples have voluntarily received the only-child certificate, and 680,000 couples of minority nationalities have voluntarily received a certificate for practicing family planning, which indicates that they will have only two children for their entire life-time. |
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