Kumul
Kumul or Hami (Uyghur: قۇمۇل/K̢umul; Chinese: 哈密; Pinyin: Hāmì) is an oasis in Xinjiang (China); it is also the name of a modern city and the sourrounding district. It is well known in China for its melons.
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Geography and Climate
Like Turpan, Kumul is in a fault depression about 200 metres below sea level, and temperatures are extreme, from a high of 43°C in summer to a low of -32°C in winter.
Names
The city is known in Uyghur as K̢umul or K̢omul. The the Portuguese Jesuit Benedict Goës and Matteo Ricci in 1615 recorded its name as "Camul". One of the oldest attested Chinese names is Kūnmò 昆莫; in Han-dynasty documents it was referred to as Yīwú 伊吾 or Yīwúlú 伊吾卢, in the Tang dynasty as Yīzhōu 伊州; in the Yuan dynasty the Mongolian name for the place, Qamil, was transcribed into Chinese as Hāmìlì 哈密力 and from the Ming dynasty Kumul was known as Hāmì 哈密.
Population
In 2002, Kumul had a population of about 519700, 68.4% Han and 31.6% ethnic minorities, mostly Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Hui.
External Links
- hmnet.gov.cn Chinese government site on Kumul (in Chinese)
- hami.gov.cn Chinese government site on Kumul (in Chinese)