Ali Prefecture

Located west of Tibetan Autonomous Region, Ali prefecture centres at west of Qiangtang Plateau and north of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

With a large area, but thin population, Ali prefecture has 57 highways leading to the outside world, its border line totalling 1,116 kilometers. Ali prefecture is 600 kilometers long from south to north, over 550 kilometers wide from east to west.

Its population stands 69,000,holding a density of 0.23 people every square kilometer, being the largest prefecture in China with the smallest population density. Of total population farmers and herdsmen top 58,800,accounting for 85.2% of total population.

Having an improvable grassland area of 18.6 million hectares and a total of 2.7 million head of livestocks, Ali prefecture is proud of its strong farming and mining industries, wool annual output reaching over 1000 tons, goat fuzz 170 tons, cattle fuzz 60 tons, meat 5609 tons and milk 6200 tons. Its mineral resources are mainly boron,  Galauber's salt, aluminum, silver, gold, etc. Ali, especially, abounds in water resources, wind resources, terrestrial heat, etc.

It has over 80 rivers and more than 60 lakes. Well-known ones are Shiquan River, Maquan River, Xiangquan River and so on, with a total flow of 9500 kilometers ,covering a drainage area of 60,000 square meters.

Main scenic spots in Ali are Mapam Yumco, the Ruins of Guge Kingdom, Mt.Kangrinboqi, Mt.Namunanhy.