Golog (Golok or Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (; ) is an autonomous prefecture occupying the southeastern corner of Qinghai province, China. The prefecture has an area of and its seat is located in Maqên County. Due to its special geographical location and natural environment, the entire autonomous prefecture has been included in the Chinese largest natural environmental protection area — the Sanjiangyuan National Park.
Geography Golog Prefecture is located in the southeastern part of Qinghai, in the upper basin of the Yellow River. Gyaring Lake and Ngoring Lake on the western edge of the prefecture are considered to be the source of the Yellow River. However, these lakes do receive water from rivers that flow from locations even further west, in Qumarleb County of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
The lay of the land of the prefecture is largely determined by the Amne Machin mountain range (max elevation 6,282 m), which runs in the general northwest- to-southeast direction across the entire prefecture, and beyond. The existence of the ridge results in one of the great bends of the Yellow River, which first flows for several hundreds of kilometers toward the east and southeast along through the entire Golog Prefecture, along the southern side of the Amne Machin Range, until it reaches the borders of Gansu and Sichuan; it and then turns almost 180 degrees and flows toward the northwest for through several prefectures of the northeastern Qinghai, forming a section of the northeastern border of the Golog prefecture.
Several sections of the Sanjiangyuan ("Sources of Three Rivers") National Nature Reserve are within the prefecture.
Climate
Demographics
According to the 2000 census, Guoluo has 137,940 inhabitants with a population density of 1.81 inhabitants/km2.
Ethnic groups in Guoluo, 2000 census Nationality Population Percentage Tibetan 126,395 91.63% Han 9,096 6.59% Hui 1,529 1.11% Salar 329 0.24% Tu 302 0.22% Others 289 0.21%
Subdivisions The prefecture is subdivided into six county-level divisions: six counties:
Map # Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Tibetan WylieTibetan Pinyin Population Area (km2) Density(/km2)1Maqên County(Maqin County)Mǎqìn Xiànrma chen rdzongMaqên Zong51,24513,6363.752Baima County(Banma County)Bānmǎ Xiànpad ma rdzongBaima Zong27,1856,4524.213Gadê County(Gande County)Gāndé Xiàndga' bde rdzongGadê Zong34,8407,1434.874Darlag County(Dari County)Dárì Xiàndar lag rdzongTarlag Zong30,99515,3852.015Jigzhi County(Jiuzhi County)Jiǔzhì Xiàngcig sgril rdzongJigzhi Zong26,0818,6962.996Madoi County(Maduo County)Mǎduō Xiànrma stod rdzongMadoi Zong11,33625,0000.45
Transport Construction for Guoluo Maqin Airport began in September 2012 and the airport opened on 1 July 2016.
of new roads are expected to be built by 2015.
References
Further reading A. Gruschke: The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Amdo – Volume 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo, White Lotus Press, Bangkok 2001. Tsering Shakya: The Dragon in the Land of Snows. A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947, London 1999, B. Horlemann: Modernization Efforts in Golog: A Chronicle, 1970–2000 (PDF), in: Amdo Tibetans in Transition: Society and Culture in the Post-Mao Era. Edited by Toni Huber. 2: 241–67, 2002. Gangs Phrug. A Modern Golok Tibetan Family History. 2015. https://archive.org/details/HappyHappy_201502. Historical photographs of the Golok Tibetans in on Commons
External links Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture