Geographic location: In the heart of the Eurasian continent with a total international borderline of 5,600 km.

Size: 1.66 million square km, one sixth of China's land area, the largest of all provincial-level administrative regions.

Ethnic groups: There are 55 ethnic groups living in the region, mainly Uygur, Han, Kazak, Hui, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Xibe, Tajik, Ozbek, Manchu, Daur, Tatar and Russian. By the end of 2010, the population of Xinjiang had reached 21.81 million.

Religious beliefs: Include Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (Catholicism) and Shamanism.

Administrative division: 15 prefectures (including prefectures, autonomous prefectures and prefecture-level cities) and 87 counties. Urumqi is the regional capital.

(Source: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Government)