| Hainan Prefecture | |
| Native Name: | Chinese: 海南州 · {{bo-textonly|མཚོ་ལྷོ་ཁུལ། |
| Settlement Type: | Autonomous prefecture |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Qinghai |
| Seat Type: | Prefecture seat |
| Seat: | Gonghe County (Qabqa) |
| Named For: | South of Qinghai Lake |
| Area Total Km2: | 44546.21 |
| Area Water Km2: | 2,981.55 |
| Elevation Max M: | 5305 |
| Elevation Min M: | 2168 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 446996 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP[1] |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Autonomous prefecture |
| Demographics2 Info1: | CN¥ 14.0 billion US$ 2.3 billion |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Per capita |
| Demographics2 Info2: | CN¥ 30,379 US$ 4,878 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Iso Code: | CN-QH-25 |
| Population Rural: | 267,100 |
| Order: | st |
| P: | Hǎinán Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu |
| Zwpy: | Colho Poirig Ranggyong Kü |
| Wylie: | mtsho-lho bod-rigs rang-skyong-khul |
Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, formerly known as Tsolho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture[2] (;), is an autonomous prefecture of Northeastern Qinghai Province in Western China. The prefecture has an area of and its seat is located in Gonghe County. Its name literally means "south of (Qinghai) Lake."[3]
The land of Hainan prefecture was originally inhabited by the Qiang and Rong people. During the Western Han it was incorporated in the Chinese dynasties. In 60 BC, Guide County was established, then called Guan County. It was governed under Jincheng (present day Lanzhou).
In 2019, the prefecture had 478,000 inhabitants, with 331,995 belonging to ethnic minorities. The following is a list of ethnic groups in the prefecture, as of 2019.[4]
| Ethnicity | Population | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tibetan | 326,600 | 68.3% | |
| Han | 129,000 | 21.5% | |
| Hui | 37,100 | 7.8% | |
| Tu | 5,700 | 1.2% | |
| Mongol | 3,700 | 0.8% | |
| Salar | 1,300 | 0.3% |
Hainan Prefecture was established in 1953.[5] The prefecture is subdivided into 5 county-level divisions (5 counties):
| Map | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Tibetan | Wylie Tibetan Pinyin | Population | Area (km2) | Density (/km2) | |
| Gonghe County | Chinese: 共和县 | 122,966 | 16,050 | 7.66 | ||||
| Tongde County | Chinese: 同德县 | 64,369 | 6,494 | 9.91 | ||||
| Guide County | Chinese: 贵德县 | 101,771 | 3,600 | 28.26 | ||||
| Xinghai County | Chinese: 兴海县 | 76,025 | 13,158 | 5.77 | ||||
| Guinan County | Chinese: 贵南县 | 76,560 | 6,593 | 11.61 | ||||
Hainan is rather mountainous, with the Gonghe basin in the middle of the area. The elevation ranges from 5305 m to 2168 m, averaging 3000 m. The largest lake is Qinghai Lake, and the prefecture is traversed by the Yellow River.
Most of the land, 78.67%, is natural grassland used for grazing. 2.19% is cultivated for agriculture, 4.14% is forest, 6.69% is covered by water and rivers, 0.53% by residential area and industry and the remaining 7.7% consists of barren areas such as glaciers, swamps and desert.
Hainan's economy is specialized in animal husbandry, hydropower and tourism.