Xilingol League (also transliterated as Xilin Gol or Shiliin Gol; ; , , , ) is one of the three leagues of Inner Mongolia. The seat is Xilinhot, and the area is . The league's economy is based on mining and agriculture.
Xilingol borders Mongolia to the north, Chifeng, Tongliao and Hinggan League to the east, Ulanqab to the west and Hebei to the south.
This is the only prefecture-level division of Inner Mongolia in whose southern border nomadic culture is still vivid. Some divisions, such as Tongliao, have a much higher percentage of Mongolian population, but agriculture is extensive among Khorchin Mongols there. Xilingol League is also the closest Inner Mongolian prefecture-level division to Beijing; although, among those Inner Mongolian prefecture-level divisions bordering Hebei, the province surrounding Beijing, Xilin Gol is also the most unapproachable one. With a significant population of Chakhar Mongols, who speak a Mongolian dialect closely related to the standard dialect of Mongolia, the dialect also spoken in Xulun Hoh Banner, Xilin Gol League's variety is chosen as the standard language of Mongolian in China. Nevertheless, the de facto common standard is a mix of Khorchin-Kharchin and Chakhar, due to the extensive presence of Khorchin Mongolian speakers in China.
Demographics In 2000, there were 975,168 inhabitants:
Ethnic group no. of inhabitants share Han 653,226 66.78% Mongols 284,995 29.23% Manchu 26,687 2.74% Hui 11,009 1.13% Daur 784 0.08% Other 519 0.04%
Administrative subdivisions Xilin Gol is divided into two county-level cities, one county and nine banners:
Map Name Mongolian Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Population (2010) Area (km2) Density (/km2)Xilinhot (city)245,88615,75815.6Erenhot (city)74,1974,01518.5Duolun County100,8933,77326.7Abag Banner43,57427,4951.6Sonid Left Banner(Sonid Jun Banner)33,65233,4691.0Sonid Right Banner(Sonid Barun Banner)71,06326,7002.7East Ujimqin Banner(Jun Ujimqin Banner)93,96247,5542.0West Ujimqin Banner(Barun Ujimqin Banner)87,61422,9603.8Taibus Banner112,3393,41532.9Bordered Yellow Banner(Xianghuang Banner)(Hobot Xar Banner)28,4504,9605.7Plain and Bordered White Banner(Zhengxiangbai Banner)(Xulun Hobot Qagan Banner)54,4436,0839.0Plain Blue Banner(Zhenglan Banner)(Xulun Hoh Banner)81,9679,9638.2
Demonstrations in 2011
After the alleged murder of a Mongolian herder, Mergen, by a Chinese truck driver who was blocking the way for Chinese coal trucks to pass through his pasture on May 10, 2011, protests with some thousand protestors broke out in Xilingol.Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee (Reuters), Friday, May 27, 2011: Parts of Inner Mongolia 'under martial law' as protests spread. E.g. at . To prevent the spreading of protests, the Chinese government sealed off the Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities in Tongliao and the Nationalities University in Hohhot, the only two universities where lessons are predominantly taught in Mongolian. In addition, it enforced tight control on the internet and shut down QQ chatrooms. To address the underlying issues, the government provided compensation to the family of the victim, brought forth tougher environmental regulations, and dismissed the Communist Party chief of West Ujimqin. The truck driver was tried, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to death.
References
External links Official website Official website