| Karamay | |
| Native Name: | |
| Other Name: | Karamai |
| Settlement Type: | Prefecture-level city |
| Pushpin Map: | China Xinjiang Northern#China Xinjiang#China |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the city centre in Xinjiang |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Xinjiang |
| Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
| Seat: | Karamay District |
| Parts Type: | Subdivisions |
| Parts: | Districts |
| P1: | Karamay |
| P2: | Baijiantan |
| P3: | Dushanzi |
| Area Total Km2: | 7,734 |
| Elevation M: | 354 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 490348 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Major Nationalities |
| Population Blank1: | Han - 74.8% |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP[1] |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics2 Info1: | CN¥ 97.3 billion US$ 14.1 billion |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Per capita |
| Demographics2 Info2: | CN¥ 210,426 US$ 30,452 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Karamay municipal government |
| Coordinates: | 45.5799°N 84.8892°W |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 834000 |
| Area Code: | 0990 |
| Iso Code: | CN-XJ-02 |
| Blank3 Name: | License Plate Prefix |
| Blank3 Info: | Chinese: 新J |
| S: | 克拉玛依 |
| T: | 克拉瑪依 |
| W: | Kʻo⁴-la¹-ma³-i¹ |
| P: | Kèlāmǎyī |
| Xej: | کْلَامَاءِ |
| Zh-Dungan: | Кәламайы |
| Uig: | قاراماي |
| Uly: | Qaramay |
| Uyy: | Ⱪaramay |
| Sgs: | K̂aramay |
| Usy: | Қарамай |
| Lu: | black oil |
| Order: | st |
Karamay (also spelled Karamai) is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is surrounded on all sides by Tacheng Prefecture. The name of the city comes from the Uyghur language and means "black oil", referring to the oil fields near the city.
Karamay was the site of one of the worst disasters in modern Chinese history, the 1994 Karamay fire, when 324 people, including 288 school children, lost their lives in a cinema fire on 8 December 1994.[2]
Karamay City has jurisdiction over four districts (Chinese: s=区|p=qū|labels=no). They are not contiguous as Dushanzi District is located south of the Lanxin Railway and forms an exclave, separated from the rest of Karamay City by Kuytun City. Together with Kuytun City, Karamay City forms an enclave surrounded on all sides by Tacheng Prefecture.
| Map | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Population | Area (km2) | Density (/km2) | |
| Karamay | Chinese: 克拉玛依区 | Kèlāmǎyī Qū | Uighur; Uyghur: قاراماي رايونى | Qaramay Rayoni | 337,188 | 3,834 | 87.95 | |
| Dushanzi | Chinese: 独山子区 | Dúshānzǐ Qū | Uighur; Uyghur: مايتاغ رايونى | Maytagh Rayoni | 84,395 | 400 | 210.99 | |
| Baijiantan | Chinese: 白碱滩区 | Báijiǎntān Qū | Uighur; Uyghur: جەرەنبۇلاق رايونى | Jerenbulaq Rayoni | 50,825 | 1,272 | 39.96 | |
| Orku | Chinese: 乌尔禾区 | Wū'ěrhé Qū | Uighur; Uyghur: ئورقۇ رايونى | Orqu Rayoni | 17,940 | 2,228 | 8.05 | |
Karamay is located in the northwest of the Dzungarian basin, with an average elevation of 400m (1,300feet). Its administrative area ranges in latitude from 44° 07' to 46° 08' N and in longitude from 80° 44' to 86° 01' E and has a maximal 240km (150miles) north–south extent and reaches 110km (70miles) in east–west width. It borders Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County to the northeast, Shawan County to the southeast, Toli County and Wusu to the west and Kuytun to the south.
The naturally available water supply in the Karamay area is limited: it mostly consists of two small rivers (the Baiyang River and the Da'erbute River (Chinese: 达尔不特河) flowing into the Dzungarian Basin from the mountains of its northwestern rim. In addition, the city receives water from the Irtysh River, over the Irtysh–Karamay Canal, which was officially opened in 2008.[3]
A number of natural (Ailik Lake) and artificial (Fengcheng, Huangyangquan) reservoirs are located in Karamay's northeastern Urho District; they all are replenished, directly or indirectly, by water from the Irtysh–Karamay Canal.
Karamay has an extremely continental desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk), typified by great seasonal extremes in temperature, varying by ; with long, very hot summers (for its latitude) and long, severely cold winters with brief spring and autumn in between. The monthly 24-hour average temperature is NaN°C in January and soars to 27.8°C in July and the annual mean is 8.91°C, warmer than most places at the corresponding latitude, due to the long summers. Annual precipitation is 1192NaN2 and the summer months record the most rainfall, despite relative humidity levels averaging around 30%. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 37% in December to 71% in September, sunshine is generous, only occurring less than 50% of the time in November and December and the annual average total is 2,694 hours.
According to the 2010 census, over 80% of Karamay's population are Han Chinese, with minorities such as Uighur, Kazakhs, Mongols and Hui making up the rest. The population of 2010 is 391,008, a rise from the 270,232 of 2000 census. The population density is 50.6 inhabitants per km2.[4] The 2015 population estimate is 401,468.[5]
| Ethnicity | Population | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Han Chinese | 319,265 | 81.65% | |
| Uyghur | 44,866 | 11.47% | |
| Kazakhs | 11,620 | 2.97% | |
| Hui | 8,238 | 2.11% | |
| Mongol | 2,348 | 0.60% | |
| Manchu | 754 | 0.19% | |
| Xibe | 681 | 0.17% | |
| Tujia | 678 | 0.17% | |
| Russian | 471 | 0.12% | |
| Uzbek | 177 | 0.05% | |
| Dongxiang | 133 | 0.03% | |
| Kyrgyz | 117 | 0.03% | |
| Tajik | 35 | <0.01% | |
| Others | 1,625 | 0.42% | |
| Total | 391,008 | 100% |
In 1955, one of the largest oil fields in China was discovered there. Since then, the city has grown into an oil-producing and refining center.
In 2008, the GDP reached ¥66.1 billion and GDP per capita reached ¥242,391 (US$34,901), ranking first among 659 cities in mainland China.