| Baotou | |
| Native Name: | Chinese: 包头市 • {{MongolUnicode|ᠪᠤᠭᠤᠲᠤ |
| Other Name: | Paotow |
| Settlement Type: | Prefecture-level city |
| Pushpin Map: | Inner Mongolia#China |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the city centre in Inner Mongolia |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Inner Mongolia |
| Subdivision Type3: | County-level divisions |
| Subdivision Name3: | 10 Banners |
| Subdivision Type4: | Township divisions |
| Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
| Seat: | Jiuyuan District |
| Area Total Km2: | 27768 |
| Area Metro Km2: | 953.5 |
| Area Urban Km2: | 247.14 |
| Population As Of: | 2023 census |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] [2] |
| Population Total: | 2761700 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Metro: | 2418200 |
| Population Urban: | 2283700 |
| Population Density Urban Km2: | auto |
| Population Density Metro Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Major ethnic groups |
| Population Blank2: | Han - 94% |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP[3] |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Prefecture-level city |
| Demographics2 Info1: | CN¥ 426.3 billion US$ 60.5 billion PPP$ 106.8 billion |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Per capita |
| Demographics2 Info2: | CN¥ 155,050 US$ 22,003 PPP$ 38,859 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +08:00 |
| Coordinates: | 40.6213°N 109.9532°W |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Baotou municipal government |
| Elevation M: | 1065 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 014000 |
| Area Code: | 472 |
| Iso Code: | CN-NM-02 |
| Blank Name: | License plate prefixes |
| Blank Info: | Chinese: 蒙B |
| Blank3 Name: | Local Dialect |
| Blank3 Info: | Jin (Baotou dialect); Northeastern Mandarin; Southern Mongolian |
| Blank Emblem Type: | City Emblem |
| S: | 包头 |
| T: | 包頭 |
| Psp: | Paotow |
| P: | Bāotóu |
| Bpmf: | ㄅㄠ ㄊㄡˊ |
| Mong: | ᠪᠤᠭᠤᠲᠤ ᠬᠣᠲᠠ |
| Mongr: | Buɣutu qota |
| Mon: | Бугaт хот |
| Order: | st |
Baotou is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (or metro) area made up of its 5 urban districts is home to 2,261,089 people with a total population of 2,709,378 accounting for counties under its jurisdiction.[4] The city's namesake, literally translated to "place with deer", is of Mongolic origin or "Lucheng", meaning "City of Deer".[5] Alternatively Baotou is known as the "City of Steel in Gobi" . Steel was a major industry in the city. Today, Baotou refines over half of the rare-earth minerals produced in the world. This has led to environmental contamination near the industrial sites.
The area now known as Baotou was inhabited by nomads, some of whose descendants would later be categorized as Mongols. Near the end of the Han Dynasty—206 BC–220 AD—Lü Bu, a particularly noteworthy warrior, was born in today's Jiuyuan District of Baotou.
Compared to the capital of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, Baotou's construction as a city came relatively late, being incorporated as a town in 1809. The city's site was chosen because it was in an arable region of the Yellow River's Great Bend.
The Gelaohui secret society and the Hui Muslim General Ma Fuxiang came to an agreement in 1922, in which Ma Fuxiang agreed to allow the Gelaohui to extort protection money from wool merchants in Baotou.[6]
A railway from Beijing was constructed in 1923, and the city began spurring some industrial sites. A German-Chinese joint-venture in 1934 constructed the Baotou Airport and opened a weekly route connecting Baotou with Ningxia and Lanzhou.
When young Owen Lattimore visited Baotou in 1925, it was still "a little husk of a town in a great hollow shell of mud ramparts, where two busy streets made a traders' quarter", but already an important railhead. Qinghai and Gansu wool and hides were brought down the Yellow River by raft and boat from Lanzhou to Baotou, and shipped from Baotou by rail to the east (in particular, to Tianjin for export). The river traffic was one-way only, however, as the fast current made sailing up the Yellow River impractical. To travel from Baotou back to Lanzhou or Yinchuan, one would use a cart and camel road. There were also caravan roads from Baotou to Ordos and the Alxa League.[7]
Baotou was under Japanese control from 1937 until 1945.
On September 19, 1949, after the September 19 Rebellion, Baotou fell under Communist control. The People's Government was formed in February 1950.
In the early Communist years, Baotou served as an industrial centre, with a significant portion of its economy coming from its steel production. The Iron and Steel Base in Baotou is one of the "156 projects", which were constructed with the help of the Soviet Union to develop China's national economy in the 1950s and 1960s, and it continues this reputation until this day. Until the middle of the 1960s, the steel complex at Baotou was one of the rare examples of industrialization in the periphery of China.[8]
See main article: 1996 Baotou earthquake. On 3 May 1996, at 03:32AM UTC (11:32AM local time), an earthquake of MS 6.4 occurred. Since the epicenter of the earthquake was located close to the city,[9] Baotou was very damaged by the earthquake: 26 people were killed, 453 injured and 196,633 lost their homes. The electrical infrastructure of the city was also damaged, and soil liquefaction occurred around the swamps of the Yellow River.
The earthquake, which destroyed many old houses, led to the reconstruction of Baotou. In 2002, the Baotou Municipal Government was awarded by UN-HABITAT for the improvements in shelter and the urban environments.[10] [11]
In the early 21st century, Baotou's economy grew rapidly, growing about tenfold from 2000 to 2010.[12] The city's gross domestic product peaked at about 386.763 billion renminbi (RMB) in 2016, and has shrunk significantly since then.
Baotou is the largest economy of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,[13] and accounted for approximately 21.3% of Inner Mongolia's total gross domestic product (GDP) as of 2012.[14] As of 2018, the city's GDP is 295.180 billion renminbi (RMB), a 7.22% increase from the previous year, but much lower than the city's peak of 386.763 billion RMB in 2016.
Baotou's secondary sector has proven crucial to the city's economy. As of 2016, it contributed 182.215 RMB to the city's economy, 47.11% of the city's total GDP.[15] However, like the city's total economy, it has shrunk since then. As of 2020, the city's secondary sector contributed 115.300 billion RMB to Baotou's economy.
Baotou Xingsheng Economic & Technological Development Zone is an industrial zone in Baotou.
As noted, in the early Communist years Baotou served as an industrial centre, with a significant portion of its economy coming from its industry around metals, mostly steel. The Iron and Steel Base of Bautou was constructed with the help of the Soviet Union to help China in developing its economy; it was one of the 156 Projects that the Soviets helped build for that purpose in the 1950s and 1960s.
Baotou is a major center for rare-earth metals.[16] Rare-earth minerals from the Bayan Obo Mining District, about 120 kilometres from Baotou, are processed in the city. They are used in many electrical and electronic devices, such as smartphones, TVs, wind turbines, and electric vehicle motors.[17] The toxic byproducts from the refineries are contained by the Baotou Tailings Dam.
According to the 2020 Chinese Census, Baotou has a permanent population of about 2,709,400 people, up about 59,000 from the 2010 Census.[18] The average household in Baotou comprises 2.27 people, down from 2.65 as of 2010.
Baotou, like many places in China, has an aging population. As per the 2020 Census, 20.19% of Baotou's population is aged 60 and older, 1.49 percentage points above the Chinese national average of 18.70%. 13.70% of Baotou's population is aged 65 and older, 0.20 percentage points above the Chinese national average of 13.50%. The number of people aged 60 and older has grown by 7.42% since 2010, and the number of people aged 65 and older has grown by 4.88% during that same span.
Per the census, 50.7% of the city's population is male, and 49.3% is female.
| Ethnicity | 2000 | 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | Percentage | Population | Percentage | ||
| Han Chinese | 2,122,737 | 94.16% | 2,525,500 | 93.21% | |
| Mongol | 67,209 | 2.98% | 113,200 | 4.18% | |
| Hui Chinese | 36,234 | 1.61% | N/A | N/A | |
| Manchu | 22,826 | 1.01% | N/A | N/A | |
| Korean Chinese | 848 | 0.04% | N/A | N/A | |
| Other | N/A | N/A | 70,700 | 2.61% | |
| Total | N/A | 100.00% | 2,709,400 | 100.00% | |
As of 2020, there are approximately 1,026,400 floating residents of Baotou, that is, residents of the city with a hukou registration elsewhere. This population has increased by 144,100, or 22.37%, since 2010.
As of the 2020 Census, 2,334,400 people, or 86.16% of the city's population, lives in urban areas. The remaining 375,000 people, 13.84% of the city's population, lives in rural areas.
Baotou is located in the west of Inner Mongolia, located at the junction of two economic zones: the Bohai Economic Rim and the Upper Yellow River Natural Resources Enrichment Zone . Its administrative area borders Mongolia's Dornogovi Province to the north, while the Yellow River, which flows for in the prefecture,[23] is south of the urban area itself. The Tumochuan Plateau, Hetao Plateau, and Yin Mountains cross the urban area and central part of the prefecture. Baotou City ranges in latitude from 41° 20' to 42° 40' N and in longitude from 109° 50' to 111° 25' E.
Baotou features a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), marked by long, cold and very dry winters, hot, somewhat humid summers, and strong winds, especially in spring. Temperatures often fall below NaN°C in winter and rise above in summer. The annual precipitation is approximately 300mm, with more than half of it falling in July and August alone. Due to the aridity and elevation, temperature differences between day and night can be large, especially in spring. In 2002, there were 12 instances of dust storms.[23]
Baotou is divided into 10 county-level divisions, including 7 districts, 1 county and 2 banners.
| Map | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Mongolian | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2010 Census[24]) | Area (km2) | Density (/km2) | ||
| 1 | Hondlon District | Chinese: 昆都仑区 | Kūndūlún Qū | 726,838 | 301 | 2,415 | ||
| 2 | Donghe District | Chinese: 东河区 | Dōnghé Qū | 512,045 | 470 | 1,089 | ||
| 3 | Qingshan District | Chinese: 青山区 | Qīngshān Qū | 600,284 | 396 | 1,516 | ||
| 4 | Shiguai District | Chinese: 石拐区 | Shíguǎi Qū | 35,803 | 761 | 47 | ||
| 5 | Bayan'obo Mining District | Chinese: 白云鄂博矿区 | Báiyún Èbó Kuàngqū | 26,050 | 303 | 86 | ||
| 6 | Jiuyuan District | Chinese: 九原区 | Jiǔyuán Qū | 195,831 | 734 | 267 | ||
| 8 | Guyang County | Chinese: 固阳县 | Gùyáng Xiàn | 175,574 | 5,025 | 35 | ||
| 9 | Tumed Right Banner (Tumed Barun Banner) | Chinese: 土默特右旗 | Tǔmòtè Yòu Qí | 276,453 | 2,368 | 116.7 | ||
| 10 | Darhan Muminggan United Banner (Darhan Muminggan Holbot Banner) | Chinese: 达尔罕茂明安 Chinese: 联合旗 | Dá'ěrhǎn Màomíng'ān Liánhé Qí | 101,486 | 17,410 | 5.8 | ||