Khorgos
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Khorgos (from Russian: Хоргос; Chinese: 霍尔果斯), officially known as Korgas (Kazakh: قورعاس; Uyghur: قورغاس), is a county-level city in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. It straddles the country's border with Kazakhstan; on the Kazakh side of the border is a city also named Horgos in Russian and Korgas in Kazakh.
Khorgos area is a hub of the New Eurasian Land Bridge, 200 km from the Alataw Pass, the historically important Dzungarian Gate, with a cross-border visa-free special economic zone for trade and shopping (ICBC), a dry port for transporting goods and two new cities, one on either side of the border.
History
In 1851, the Russian Empire signed an agreement with Qing China to have Khorgos and Tacheng opened as port of entries along the Qing-Russian border.
In 1977, the 61st Regiment Farm fire in Khorgos killed 694 and injured 161. It is one of the worst human-made disasters in China by death toll.
Transportation
The Jinghe–Yining–Khorgos railway was completed in late 2009 and as of 2012 provides train service from Ürümqi and Yining to Khorgos.
Passenger trains from Ürümqi started on 1 July 2010; however, they initially only ran to Yining and not all the way to Khorgos. In December 2013, one of the daily Ürümqi-Yining passenger trains was extended to Khorgos. The travel time from Khorgos to Yining then was just over an hour.
In December 2011, a 293-kilometre (182 mi) railway from the Khorgos border crossing to Zhetygen terminal (near Almaty) was completed; on 2 December 2012, the tracks from the Chinese and Kazakhstan sides of the borders were connected. For some months, the railway on the Kazakh side was still operating in a test mode. The railway border crossing (port of entry) at Khorgos became operational in the late 2012; the first regular trains from the two countries crossed the border on 22 December 2012. Thus, Khorgos, an international dry port, connects land-locked Kazakhstan to the sea port of Lianyungang in China.
The railway border crossing is expected to handle up to 15 million tons of freight per year initially, the volume rising to 30 million tons per year in the long run, opening up the second Europe-China rail link via Kazakhstan.
Khorgos is a major break of gauge interchange. 41-ton gantry cranes are used to move shipping containers between standard gauge Chinese trains and Russian gauge Kazakh trains, connecting to Altynkol railway station on a spur line of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy.
In June 2017, the Ürümqi Railway Bureau of the China Railway started daily passenger service from Ürümqi to Astana via Khorgos.
Economy
As of at least 2024, Khorgos is the second-largest dry port in the world.
In 2017, Boshihao Electronics, a robot manufacturing company, moved production from Shenzhen to Khorgos.
Climate
| Climate data for Khorgos, elevation 722 m (2,369 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1991–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 11.9 (53.4) | 16.5 (61.7) | 27.7 (81.9) | 33.6 (92.5) | 37.0 (98.6) | 37.7 (99.9) | 41.2 (106.2) | 39.5 (103.1) | 35.7 (96.3) | 31.5 (88.7) | 24.0 (75.2) | 15.3 (59.5) | 41.2 (106.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.9 (30.4) | 2.0 (35.6) | 11.1 (52.0) | 20.3 (68.5) | 25.4 (77.7) | 29.4 (84.9) | 31.3 (88.3) | 30.6 (87.1) | 25.9 (78.6) | 18.0 (64.4) | 8.5 (47.3) | 1.3 (34.3) | 16.9 (62.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −5.8 (21.6) | −2.8 (27.0) | 5.6 (42.1) | 13.6 (56.5) | 18.6 (65.5) | 22.7 (72.9) | 24.6 (76.3) | 23.8 (74.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 11.6 (52.9) | 3.4 (38.1) | −3.2 (26.2) | 10.9 (51.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9.5 (14.9) | −6.5 (20.3) | 1.1 (34.0) | 8.3 (46.9) | 12.9 (55.2) | 17.1 (62.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 17.9 (64.2) | 13.2 (55.8) | 6.6 (43.9) | −0.2 (31.6) | −6.7 (19.9) | 6.1 (43.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −28.5 (−19.3) | −25.9 (−14.6) | −16.8 (1.8) | −6.9 (19.6) | −1.1 (30.0) | 8.1 (46.6) | 10.1 (50.2) | 7.7 (45.9) | 1.1 (34.0) | −7.1 (19.2) | −18.6 (−1.5) | −25.4 (−13.7) | −28.5 (−19.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 19.4 (0.76) | 19.2 (0.76) | 17.2 (0.68) | 28.3 (1.11) | 24.8 (0.98) | 33.7 (1.33) | 26.5 (1.04) | 17.3 (0.68) | 11.9 (0.47) | 20.7 (0.81) | 26.9 (1.06) | 20.9 (0.82) | 266.8 (10.5) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.6 | 8.1 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 7.2 | 8.8 | 86 |
| Average snowy days | 9.9 | 9.5 | 3.9 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 | 5.1 | 10.1 | 40.3 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 69 | 69 | 59 | 49 | 46 | 47 | 46 | 43 | 43 | 52 | 65 | 71 | 55 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 160.8 | 175.6 | 234.7 | 266.9 | 319.8 | 325.1 | 344.1 | 329.5 | 285.7 | 240.3 | 161.1 | 144.4 | 2,988 |
| Percentage possible sunshine | 55 | 58 | 62 | 65 | 69 | 70 | 74 | 78 | 78 | 72 | 57 | 53 | 66 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration |
Administrative divisions
Khorgos is divided into 4 subdistricts, 1 ethnic township, and 2 township-equivalent regions.
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Kazakh (Arabic script) | Kazakh (Cyrillic script) | Administrative division code | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subdistricts | ||||||||
| Qarasu Subdistrict | 卡拉苏街道 | Kǎlāsū Jiēdào | قاراسۇ كوچا باشقارمىسى | qarasu kocha bashqarmisi | قاراسۋ ءمالى باسقارماسى | Қарасу мәлі басқармасы | 654004001 | |
| Ya-Ou East Road Subdistrict | 亚欧东路街道 | Yà'ōudōnglù Jiēdào | ياۋروئاسىيا شەرقىي يولى كوچا باشقارمىسى | Yawro'asiya sherqiy yoli kocha bashqarmisi | ەۆرو-ازيا شىعىس جولى ءمالى باسقارماسى | Еуразия шығыс жолы мәлі басқармасы | 654004002 | |
| Ya-Ou West Road Subdistrict | 亚欧西路街道 | Yà'ōuxīlù Jiēdào | ياۋروئاسىيا غەربىي يولى كوچا باشقارمىسى | Yawro'asiya gherbiy yoli kocha bashqarmisi | ەۆرو-ازيا باتىس جولى ءمالى باسقارماسى | Еуразия батыс жолы мәлі басқармасы | 654004003 | |
| Industrial Park Subdistrict | 工业园区街道 | Gōngyèyuánqū Jiēdào | سانائەت رايونى كوچا باشقارمىسى | sana'et rayoni kocha bashqarmisi | ونەركاسىپتىك اۋدان ءمالى باسقارماسى | Өнеркәсіптік аудан мәлі басқармасы | 654004004 | |
| Ethnic township | ||||||||
| Ichëgashen Township (Ichëgashen Sibe Ethnic Township) | 伊车嘎善乡 (伊车嘎善锡伯族乡) | Yīchēgāshàn Xiāng (Yīchēgāshàn Xíbózú Xiāng) | ئىچېگاشەن شىبە يېزىسى | Ichëgashen shibe yëzisi | يچىگاشان سىبە ۇلتتىق اۋىلى | Ичігәшән Сібе Ұлттық ауылы | 654004200 | (Xibe) ᡞᠴᡝ ᡤᠠᡧᠠᠨ ᠰᡞᠪᡝ ᡤᡡᠰᠠ ice gašan sibe gūsa |
Others:
- 61st Regiment Farm (六十一团)
- 62nd Regiment Farm (六十二团)
See also
- Transport in China
- Transport in Kazakhstan
- Railway stations in China
- Railway stations in Kazakhstan
- Nurkent
Gallery
- The 1758 Victory of Khorgos, a 1774 engraving by Jacques-Philippe Le Bas (1707-1783), after Jean-Denis Attiret (1702-1768). Musée Guimet, Paris.
- Soviet border guards near Korgas (1984)
- Korgas port gate