Aksu Prefecture is located in mid-western Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It has an area

Area

Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...

 of 132,500 km² and 2.19 million inhabitants (2003).
The name Aksu is Turkic for 'white water'.

Geography

The prefecture occupies the northwestern part of the Tarim Basin

Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of about . It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The...

 and the southern slopes of the Tian Shan

Tian Shan

The Tian Shan , also spelled Tien Shan, is a large mountain system located in Central Asia. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Victory Peak , ....

. The southern part of the prefecture is within the Taklamakan

Taklamakan

The Taklamakan Desert , also known as Taklimakan and Teklimakan, is a desert in Central Asia, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China...

 desert. Agriculture is only possible in the areas irrigated by the Tarim River

Tarim River

The Tarim River is the principal river of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

 and its glacier-fed tributaries, the Aksu River

Aksu River (China)

The Aksu River Turkish) is a transboundary river in the Xinjiang province in China and Ak-Suu District of Issyk Kul Province of Kyrgyzstan. In Kyrgyzstan it is known as Saryjaz River . The total length of the river is 282 km, of them 197 km in Kyrgyzstan...

 and the Muzart River.

Demographics

Of its 2.19 million inhabitants, 71.93% are Uyghur

Uyghur people

The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

, 26.62% are Han

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

, with the remainder belonging to other ethnicities.

Administrative divisions

Aksu Prefecture is divided into 1 county-level city

County-level city

A county-level city is a county-level administrative division of mainland China. County-level cities are usually governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions....

: Aksu (阿克苏市), and 8 counties:

#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Uyghur Uyghur language Uyghur , formerly known as Eastern Turk, is a Turkic language with 8 to 11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Significant communities of Uyghur-speakers are located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and various other...		Population (2003 est.)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
1	Aksu City	阿克苏市	Ākèsū Shì	ئاقسۇ شەھىرى	Aqsu Shehiri	570,000	14,450	39
2	Wensu County Wensu County The Wensu County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Aksu Prefecture. It contains an area of 14,309 km2. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 210,000....	温宿县	Wēnsù Xiàn	ئونسۇ ناھىيىسى	Onsu Nahiyisi	230,000	14,376	16
3	Kuqa County	库车县	Kùchē Xiàn	كۇچار ناھىيىسى	Kuchar Nahiyisi	410,000	14,529	28
4	Xayar County	沙雅县	Shāyǎ Xiàn	شايار ناھىيىسى	Shayar Nahiyisi	210,000	31,887	7
5	Toksu County Toksu County Toksu County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, and is under the administration of the Aksu Prefecture. It contains an area of 5,821 km2. According the 2002 census, it has a population of 140,000.-Transportation:...	新和县	Xīnhé Xiàn	توقسۇ ناھىيىسى	Toqsu Nahiyisi	150,000	5,831	26
6	Baicheng County Baicheng County The Baicheng County is a county in the Aksu Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The county's land area is 15,889 km2...	拜城县	Bàichéng Xiàn	باي ناھىيىس	Bay Nahiyisi	210,000	15,917	13
7	Uqturpan County Uqturpan County Uqturpan County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Aksu Prefecture. According to the 2002 census, it has an area of 9,012 km² with a population of 180,000....	乌什县	Wūshí Xiàn	ئۇچتۇرپان ناھىيىسى	Uchturpan Nahiyisi	190,000	9,065	21
8	Awat County Awat County The Awat County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Aksu Prefecture. It contains an area of 13,976 km2. According the 2002 census, it has a population of 210,000....	阿瓦提县	Āwǎtí Xiàn	ئاۋات ناھىيىسى	Avat Nahiyisi	220,000	13,067	17
9	Kalpin County Kalpin County Kalpin County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Aksu Prefecture. It contains an area of 8,918 km². According the 2002 census, it has a population of 40,000....	柯坪县	Kēpíng Xiàn	كەلپىن ناھىيىسى	Kelpin Nahiyisi	40,000	8,977	4