Ningxia

Ningxia is officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region located in the northwest part of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but, in 1958, broke off from Gansu and was reconstituted as an autonomous region for the Hui people, one of the 56 officially recognised nationalities of China.

Ningxia is bounded by Shaanxi to the east, Gansu to the south and west, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the north and has an area of around 66,400 square kilometres (25,600 sq mi). This sparsely settled, mostly desert region lies partially on the Loess Plateau and in the vast plain of the Yellow River, and features the Great Wall of China along its northeastern boundary. Over the years an extensive system of canals has been built. Extensive land reclamation and irrigation projects have made increased cultivation possible.

The region is mostly mountains and plains with little truly fertile land. The Chinese Muslims, the Huis, make up 1/3 of the population of the region. Around 1000 AD, the Tangut kingdom of Western Xia was centered in Ningxia, and often in conflict with the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties. In 189 years the throne changed hands ten times. Eventually it was overrun by the Mongols and absorbed into the Chinese empire of its day. Marco Polo visited it at around that time.