Barkam or Markang or Muerkvua is a county-level city in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, in the northwest of Sichuan province, China. The city seat is the town of Barkam.[2][3] As of the 2010 Chinese Census, Barkam has a population of 58,437.[2]

Barkam
马尔康市 · འབར་ཁམས་གྲོང་ཁྱེར། · Muerkvua shi
Ma'erkang
Overview of the city of Barkam
Overview of the city of Barkam
Barkam City (red) in Ngawa Prefecture (yellow) and Sichuan
Barkam City (red) in Ngawa Prefecture (yellow) and Sichuan
Barkam is located in Sichuan
Barkam
Barkam
Location of the seat in Sichuan
Barkam is located in China
Barkam
Barkam
Barkam (China)
Coordinates (Barkam municipal government): 31°54′21″N 102°12′23″E / 31.9057°N 102.2065°E / 31.9057; 102.2065
CountryChina
ProvinceSichuan
Autonomous prefectureNgawa
SeatBarkam Town
Area
 • Total6,639 km2 (2,563 sq mi)
Elevation
2,615 m (8,579 ft)
Population
 (2020)[1]
 • Total58,390
 • Density8.8/km2 (23/sq mi)
Postal code
624000
Area code0837
Websitewww.maerkang.gov.cn
Barkam
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese马尔康
Traditional Chinese馬爾康
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinMǎ'ěrkāng
Tibetan name
Tibetanའབར་ཁམས།
Transcriptions
Wylie'bar khams
Tibetan PinyinBarkam
Qiang name
QiangMuerkvua

Toponymy

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Barkam comes from the Tibetan "place of strong fire" and, by extension, "place of prosperity".[2]

History

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Historically, Barkam belonged to the Somang Tusi (Chinese: 梭磨土司; pinyin: Suōmó Tǔsī), one of the Gyalrong Tusi.[2] The area was administered as three units: Zhuokeji (Chinese: 卓克基; pinyin: Zhuōkèjī), Zonggag (Chinese: 松岗; pinyin: Sōnggǎng), and Tamba (Chinese: 党坝; pinyin: Dǎngbà).[2]

During the Qin dynasty, the area belonged to Jiandi Dao.[4] It belonged to Wenshan Commandery [zh] during the Han dynasty.[4] During the Tang and Song dynasties, the area was part of the Jimi system.[4] The area was governed by the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs during the Yuan dynasty.[4] During the reign of the Yongle Emperor during the Ming dynasty, the area belonged to the Zagu Tusi [zh].[4] During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty, the area was brought under the control of the Lifan Ting [zh].[4] Under the subsequent Jiaqing Emperor, the area was reorganized as the Zagu Ting [zh].[4]

During the Republic of China, the area was organized as Lifan County (Chinese: 理番县; pinyin: Lǐfān Xiàn).[4]

People's Republic of China

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In December 1950, officials from nearby Mao County embarked on a mission to establish temporary governing committees in the area of present-day Barkam.[4] The People's Republic of China established control of the area in August 1951.[4] In September 1951, the area was incorporated as the Situ Aba Provisional Military Government Committee (Chinese: 四土阿坝临时军政委员会; pinyin: Sìtǔ Ābà Línshí Jūnzhèng Wěiyuánhuì).[2][4] In April 1953, Barkam was organized as the Barkam Office (Chinese: 马尔康办事处; pinyin: Mǎ'ěrkāng Bànshìchù).[2][4] Barkam was reorganized as a county on April 21, 1956.[4]

In 1957, the areas of Sizhai (Chinese: 四寨), Rangkou [zh] (Chinese: 壤口), and Longri [zh] (Chinese: 龙日) were moved from Barkam County to nearby Hongyuan County.[2]

In November 2015, the State Council agreed to reorganize Barkam as a county-level city.[2][4]

On December 18, 2019, the Department of Civil Affairs of Sichuan Province approved the merger of the now-defunct town of Zhuokeji [zh] into the town of Barkam.[5]

Geography

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Barkam is located within the southwest portion of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, in northwest Sichuan.[3] The city is located on the southern edge of the Northwest Sichuan Plateau [zh].[3] Major rivers that flow through Barkam include the Somang River [zh], the Chabao River (Chinese: 茶堡河; pinyin: Chábǎo Hé), and the Gyomgyo River [zh].[3] Barkam's canyons are densely forested, with major tree genus's including fir, spruce, larch, birch, and oak.[6] Quercus semecarpifolia, a species of oak tree, is present in Barkam.[6]

Fauna

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The forests in the mountains are home to various protected animals such as leopards, Thorold's deer, sika deer, takin, and various birds.[6]

Climate

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Due to its elevation, Barkam lies in the transition between a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) and humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), with strong monsoonal influences; winters are frosty and summers warm with frequent rain. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −0.5 °C (31.1 °F) in December and January to 16.4 °C (61.5 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 8.75 °C (47.7 °F). Nearly two-thirds of the annual precipitation of 784 mm (30.9 in) occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 36% in June to 65% in December, the town receives 2,133 hours of bright sunshine annually. Diurnal temperature variation is large, averaging 16.0 °C (28.8 °F) annually.

Climate data for Barkam, elevation 2,664 m (8,740 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 22.1
(71.8)
24.8
(76.6)
26.8
(80.2)
31.3
(88.3)
34.7
(94.5)
35.7
(96.3)
35.5
(95.9)
36.3
(97.3)
32.4
(90.3)
30.6
(87.1)
23.3
(73.9)
19.3
(66.7)
36.3
(97.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 11.1
(52.0)
14.4
(57.9)
17.0
(62.6)
19.9
(67.8)
22.5
(72.5)
23.9
(75.0)
25.6
(78.1)
25.8
(78.4)
23.1
(73.6)
18.8
(65.8)
15.3
(59.5)
11.0
(51.8)
19.0
(66.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −0.2
(31.6)
3.4
(38.1)
6.8
(44.2)
10.1
(50.2)
12.9
(55.2)
15.1
(59.2)
16.6
(61.9)
16.3
(61.3)
13.7
(56.7)
9.2
(48.6)
4.1
(39.4)
−0.2
(31.6)
9.0
(48.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.3
(18.9)
−4.0
(24.8)
−0.3
(31.5)
3.2
(37.8)
6.6
(43.9)
10.0
(50.0)
11.3
(52.3)
10.9
(51.6)
8.8
(47.8)
4.1
(39.4)
−2.3
(27.9)
−6.8
(19.8)
2.9
(37.1)
Record low °C (°F) −16.0
(3.2)
−13.6
(7.5)
−12.6
(9.3)
−6.2
(20.8)
−2.2
(28.0)
0.1
(32.2)
2.2
(36.0)
1.5
(34.7)
−0.6
(30.9)
−5.7
(21.7)
−10.7
(12.7)
−16.6
(2.1)
−16.6
(2.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 3.3
(0.13)
7.8
(0.31)
27.4
(1.08)
57.4
(2.26)
115.6
(4.55)
164.4
(6.47)
130.0
(5.12)
105.2
(4.14)
122.2
(4.81)
78.1
(3.07)
11.5
(0.45)
3.1
(0.12)
826
(32.51)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 2.5 5.6 10.5 14.9 20.5 22.7 19.6 17.7 18.9 16.3 5.4 2.2 156.8
Average snowy days 4.1 6.8 6.4 1.9 0.6 0 0 0 0 0.9 2.9 3.3 26.9
Average relative humidity (%) 45 44 50 56 65 74 75 74 77 74 59 50 62
Mean monthly sunshine hours 196.8 175.6 184.1 185.1 181.6 147.5 167.8 173.6 155.9 156.0 186.7 200.7 2,111.4
Percent possible sunshine 61 56 49 47 42 35 39 43 43 45 60 64 49
Source 1: China Meteorological Administration[7][8]
Source 2: Weather China[9]

Administrative divisions

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Barkam administers the following three towns and 10 townships:[10]

Name Simplified Chinese Pinyin Tibetan[11][better source needed] Wylie[11][better source needed] Qiang[11][better source needed] Population (2010 Chinese Census)[2] Administrative division code
Towns
Barkam
(Mar'erkang)
马尔康镇 Mǎ'ěrkāng Zhèn འབར་ཁམས་གྲོང་རྡལ། ʼbar khams grong rdal Bbadh kangw seqea 30,547 513201100
Zonggag [zh]
(Songgang)
松岗镇 Sōnggǎng Zhèn རྫོང་འགག་གྲོང་རྡལ། rdzong ʼgag grong rdal 2,104 513201102
Sarzong [zh]
(Sha'erzong)
沙尔宗镇 Shā'ěrzōng Zhèn གསར་རྫོང་གྲོང་རྡལ། gsar rdzong grong rdal 2,126 513201103
Townships
Somang Township [zh]
(Suomo)
梭磨乡 Suōmó Xiāng སོ་མང་ཡུལ་ཚོ། so mang yul tsho 2,795 513201200
Chagpar Township [zh]
(Baiwan)
白湾乡 Báiwān Xiāng བྲག་བར་ཡུལ་ཚོ། brag bar yul tsho 2,990 513201201
Tamba Township
(Dangba)
党坝乡 Dǎngbà Xiāng དམ་པ་ཡུལ་ཚོ། dam pa yul tsho 2,698 513201202
Zhongzong Township [zh]
(Mu'erzong)
木尔宗乡 Dǎngbà Xiāng འབྲོང་རྫོང་ཡུལ་ཚོ། ʼbrong rdzong yul tsho 1,359 513201203
Gyomgyo Township [zh]
(Jiaomuzu, Jomzhu)
脚木足乡 Jiǎomùzú Xiāng ཀྱོམ་ཀྱོ་ཡུལ་ཚོ། kyom kyo yul tsho 3,302 513201204
Donggyai Township [zh]
(Long'erjia)
龙尔甲乡 Lóng'ěrjiǎ Xiāng གདོང་བརྒྱད་ཡུལ་ཚོ། gdong brgyad yul tsho 1,527 513201206
Tacang Township [zh]
(Dazang)
大藏乡 Dàzàng Xiāng ད་ཚང་ཡུལ་ཚོ། da tshang yul tsho 1,067 513201207
Kangsar Township [zh]
(Kangshan)
康山乡 Kāngshān Xiāng ཁང་སར་ཡུལ་ཚོ། khang sar yul tsho 1,599 513201208
Codün Township [zh]
(Caodeng)
草登乡 Cǎodēng Xiāng ཚོ་བདུན་ཡུལ་ཚོ། tsho bdun yul tsho 2,953 513201209
Zongbur Township [zh]
(Ribu)
日部乡 Rìbù Xiāng རྫོང་འབུར་ཡུལ་ཚོ། rdzong ʼbur yul tsho 3,370 513201210

Demographics

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As of the 2010 Chinese Census, Barkam has a population of 58,437.[2] This represents an increase from the 55,046 recorded in the 2000 Chinese Census.[2] Barkam had a population of 54,735 in 1999.[12] In 1996, Barkam had an estimated population of 54,000.[2]

As of 2016 government figures, 77.41% of Barkam is classified as ethnically Tibetan, while 18.09% is ethnically Han Chinese, 2.97% is ethnically Qiang, 1.20% is ethnically Hui, and the remaining 0.34% belong to other ethnic groups.[13]

The area is traditionally inhabited by a branch of Rgyalrong people who speak the Situ language.[14] Chagpar Township [zh] hosts a unique dialect of Situ.[15]

Economy

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As of 2021, Barkam has a gross domestic product (GDP) of about 4.6 billion renminbi (RMB).[16] This represents an approximate 70% increase from 2016.[16] GDP per capita as of 2021 was approximately 78,000 RMB, also a 70% increase from 2016.[16]

Barkam is home to over 1,300 ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine, including many derived from local deer, bears, cattle, fungus, and lilies.[6]

Transport

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Tourism

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Major historical sites in Barkam include:

Notes

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  1. ^ "阿坝州第七次全国人口普查公报第二号——县(市)人口情况" (in Chinese). Government of Ngawa Prefecture. 2021-06-11.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 马尔康市历史沿革 [Ma'erkang Organizational History]. xzqh.org (in Chinese). 2015-12-17. Archived from the original on 2024-02-03. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 马尔康市概况地图 [Ma'erkang Overview]. xzqh.org (in Chinese). 2015-12-17. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 历史沿革 [Organizational History]. www.maerkang.gov.cn (in Chinese). Ma'erkang Municipal People's Government. 2022-01-04. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  5. ^ 四川省人民政府关于同意阿坝州调整马尔康市等10个县(市)部分乡镇行政区划的批复(川府民政〔2019〕22号). mzt.sc.gov.cn (in Chinese). Department of Civil Affairs of Sichuan Province. 2019-12-20. Archived from the original on 2024-02-03. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  6. ^ a b c d 自然资源 [Natural Resources]. maerkang.gov.cn (in Chinese). Ma'erkang Municipal People's Government. 2021-05-27. Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  7. ^ 中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  8. ^ 中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  9. ^ 马尔康 - 气象数据 -中国天气网 (in Chinese). Weather China. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  10. ^ 2023年统计用区划代码(马尔康市) [2023 Statistical Division Codes (Barkam)] (in Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of China. 2023. Archived from the original on 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  11. ^ a b c "Administrative Divisions of China in minority languages (Sichuan)". ttpedersen.github.io. Archived from the original on 2024-02-03. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  12. ^ National Population Statistics Materials by County and City - 1999 Period, in China County & City Population 1999, Harvard China Historical GIS
  13. ^ 行政区划 [Administrative Divisions]. maerkang.gov.cn (in Chinese). Ma'erkang Municipal Government. 2017-03-22. Archived from the original on 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  14. ^ "Rgyalrong Culture" 嘉绒人文. Ma'erkang City Government website. Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  15. ^ Zhang, Shuya (January 2023). 四土嘉绒语白湾话核心论元关系化 [Relationalization of Core Arguments in the Baiwan Dialect of the Situ rGyalrong Language]. Yuyan Kexue (in Chinese). 22 (1): 76.
  16. ^ a b c 社会经济 [Society and Economy]. www.maerkang.gov.cn (in Chinese). Ma'erkang Municipal People's Government. 2022-01-04. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
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