Rutog County

'Rutog' is Tibetan for "mountain shaped like a spear and fork".

Rutog County is located in northwestern Tibet, in the Ngari Prefecture, with a number of territorial borders. It is divided into 12 townships and 30 village committees. The average altitude of the county is {{convert|4500|m|abbr=on}} with a maximum altitude of {{convert|6800|m|abbr=on}}.

To the north, Rutog County shares borders with Hotan County (Hetian), Qira County (Cele) and Keriya County (Yutian) in Hotan Prefecture (Hetian), Xinjiang. To the east, the county borders Gêrzê County. The disputed Aksai Chin plateau, which China administers as part of the Hotan County is to the northwest of Rutog County. To the west lies Ladakh, a union territory of India, with which Rutog has had a long historical relationship.

Lakes in Rutog County include Bangda Lake, Guozha Lake, Longmu Lake, Lumajangdong Co and Wo Erba Lake. The eastern part of the Pangong Lake lies in the Rutog County, while the western part is in Ladakh.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/dreamsofsnowland0000chen/ |title=Dreams of Snow Land |via=Internet Archive |date=2005 |isbn=7-119-03883-4 |publisher=Foreign Languages Press |location=Beijing |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dreamsofsnowland0000chen/page/273 273]-[https://archive.org/details/dreamsofsnowland0000chen/page/275 275]}}

Rutog County has a rough subarctic climate with long, very cold, sometimes snowy winters and short, cool, humid summers (Dfc) owing its extreme altitude.

Rutog was part of the Maryul kingdom (modern Ladakh), when it was established in the 10th century. It was again consolidated as part of Ladakh during the reign of Sengge Namgyal, but was later conquered by Lhasa through the Tibet-Ladakh-Mughal War. Rutog and Ladakh continued to have extensive trading relations at all times, with occasional disputes over borders.

The headquarters of the region was at Old Rudok (Rutog Dzong; {{coord|33.4175|79.6427|name=Rutog Dzong}}), a hill top location, which boasted a fort as well as several monasteries. During the period of the British Raj in India, European visitors were expressly prohibited from visiting the Rudok, but the British official E. B. Wakefield managed to visit it in 1939.

With the 1950 Chinese annexation of Tibet, Rutog became part of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

In October 1983, the county seat was moved from Old Rudok to the village of Derub ({{lang-zh|c=德汝昆孜|p=Dé rǔ kūn zī}}; {{coord|33.3718|79.6961|name=Derub}}). The present Rutog Town was built sometime around 1999 a short distance away from Derub.{{citation |last1=Mayhew |first1=Bradley |last2=Bellezza |first2=John Vincent |last3=Wheeler |first3=Tony |last4=Taylor |first4=Chris |title=Tibet |publisher=Lonely Planet |year=1999 |url=https://archive.org/details/tibet00mayh |via=archive.org |url-access=registration |pages=264, 279}} The site of the new town appears to have been originally a suburb of the Derub village called Gyelgosang ({{bo|t=རྒྱལ་སྒོ་བསངས|w=rgyal sgo bsangs|s=gyel go sang}}; {{coord|33.3837|79.7318|name=Rutog Town}}).{{Cite web |title=Geographical names of Tibet AR (China): Ngari prefecture |website=KNAB Place Name Database |publisher=Institute of the Estonian Language |date=2018-06-03 |url=https://www.eki.ee/knab/valik/cn54x.htm}}

Rutog county is divided into 1 town and 4 townships:{{cite web |url=http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xz/20303.html |script-title=zh:日土县历史沿革 |trans-title=Rutog County Historical Development |publisher=XZQH.org |date=5 April 2016 |language=zh-hans |access-date=21 May 2019 |quote={{lang|zh-hans|1961年3月设立日土县，由新疆维吾尔自治区管辖，1978年划归西藏自治区，隶属阿里地区管辖至今。{...}1996年，日土县面积8.1万平方千米，人口约0.61万人，均为藏族。{...}2000年第五次人口普查，日土县常住总人口7175人，{...}2008年，全县面积7.70万多平方千米，人口0.87万人。2010年第六次人口普查，日土县常住总人口9738人，其中，日土镇3057人，热帮乡2242人，日松乡1921人，东汝乡1278人，多玛乡1240人。}}}}{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/tjbz/tjyqhdmhcxhfdm/2019/54/25/542524.html |script-title=zh:2019年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：日土县 |trans-title=2019 Statistical Area Numbers and Rural-Urban Area Numbers: Rutog County |language=zh-hans |publisher=National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China |date=2019 |access-date=21 May 2019 |quote={{lang |zh-hans |统计用区划代码 名称 542524100000 日土镇 542524200000 热帮乡 542524201000 日松乡 542524202000 东汝乡 542524203000 多玛乡 |}}}}{{cite web |url=http://rt.al.gov.cn/info/1073/4800.htm |script-title=zh:阿里地区日土县概况 |language=zh-hans |date=19 March 2015 |access-date=22 May 2020 |script-website=zh:阿里地区日土县人民政府 |quote={{lang|zh-hans|日土县辖４乡１镇，包括日土镇、日松乡、热帮乡、多玛乡，东汝乡。}}}}

{{Historical populations

|type=China

|percentages = pagr

|2000|7175

|2010|9738

|footnote =

|}}

{{as of|1996}}, the residents of the county were Tibetan.

Rutog County's economy is based around farming and animal husbandry. Aside from wool, butter, hides, cattle cashmere, etc. are produced. In Rutog County, the main growing crop is barley and yaks, sheep, goats, horses and other livestock are important to the economy. Rutog County has many wild animals and plants, including the black-necked crane, goose, wild yak, Tibetan antelope, Mongolian gazelle, black sheep, kiang, and bear. A number of rare animals are protected by the government and are of high value. Known mineral resources are gold, lead, chromite, borax, and salt.

In the five years from 2006 to 2011, Rutog County produced 72 tons of cashmere wool worth 16 million yuan (US$2.5 million in 2011).{{cite web |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-06/27/content_12780292.htm |title=Cashmere industry needs technology help}} China produces 75% of the world's cashmere wool.{{cite web |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2011-10/13/content_13884938.htm |title=Trade fair to promote cashmere industry | Business Focus |publisher=chinadaily.com.cn |date= |access-date=2022-05-26}}

In 1984, the average per capita income of Rutog County residents was 478 yuan.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA337884/ |title=China Report POLITICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL AND MILITARY AFFAIRS |date=29 October 1984 |access-date=22 May 2020 |via=Internet Archive |publisher=Foreign Broadcast Information Service |page=[https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA337884/page/n30 24]}}

The China National Highway 219 passes through Rutog County.

At around 11 AM on July 17, 2016, nine people, 350 sheep and 110 yaks were buried in an avalanche near the Aru Lake (at {{coord|34|02|45.4|N|82|17|24.6|E|name=Avalanche location}}), about {{convert|250|km}} from Rutog Town. The avalanche fell on a grazing area and the snow was as much as {{convert|8|m|ft|abbr=on}} deep. The local government dispatched rescuers and equipment to the site of the avalanche.{{cite web |url=http://www.china.org.cn/china/2016-07/18/content_38902841.htm |title=Avalanche buries 9 in Tibet |date=18 July 2016 |access-date=22 May 2020 |website=China Internet Center}}{{cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/tibet-nine-killed-in-an-avalanche-2921206/ |title=Tibet: Nine killed in an avalanche |date=18 July 2016 |access-date=22 May 2020 |website=The Indian Express}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3z0HBQfKlA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/R3z0HBQfKlA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live |title=Nine Killed in Avalanche in Tibet |date=18 July 2016 |access-date=23 May 2020 |via=YouTube |publisher=China Central Television}}{{cbignore}} The avalanche was described by NASA as one of the largest avalanches in history.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/12/12/a-tibetan-glacier-mysteriously-collapsed-and-killed-9-now-researchers-offer-answers/ |title=A Tibetan glacier mysteriously collapsed and killed 9. Now researchers offer answers. |date=12 December 2016 |access-date=22 May 2020 |newspaper=Washington Post |author=Ben Guarino}}{{cite web |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/88677/massive-and-mysterious-ice-avalanche-in-tibet |title=Massive and Mysterious Ice Avalanche in Tibet |access-date=22 May 2020 |website=NASA Earth Observatory |date=7 September 2016}} On September 21, 2016, another similarly large avalanche occurred just to the south.{{cite web |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/88953/a-second-massive-ice-avalanche-in-tibet |title=A Second Massive Ice Avalanche in Tibet |access-date=26 May 2020 |website=NASA Earth Observatory |date=21 October 2016}}{{cite journal |date=2018 |journal=International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |volume=42 |issue=3 |author=Shixin Wang |author2=Baolin Yang |author3=Yi Zhou |author4=Futao Wang |author5=Rui Zhang |author6=Qing Zhao |title=Snow Cover Mapping and Ice Avalanche Monitoring from the Satellite Data of the Sentinels |page=1766 |doi=10.5194/ISPRS-ARCHIVES-XLII-3-1765-2018 |bibcode=2018ISPAr42.3.1765W |s2cid=59056188 |doi-access=free}}

Historical maps including Rutog:

File:China West 1906-08 Sven Hedin.jpg|Map of the expeditions of Sven Hedin (1906–8) including Rutog (labeled as Rudok) (RGS, early 20th century)

File:Txu-oclc-6654394-ni-44-3rd-ed.jpg|Map including Rutog (labeled as Rudok) (AMS, 1950){{efn|From map: "THE DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES ON THIS MAP MUST NOT BE CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE."}}

File:Operational Navigation Chart G-7, 6th edition.jpg|Map including the Rutog County area (DMA, 1980)

File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 g-7d.jpg|Map including Rutog (Jih-t'u) (DMA, 1995)

• Aksai Chin
• 2020 China–India skirmishes

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|Rutog|Rudok}}

• [http://info.tibet.cn/newzt/rsxzzt/gljt/gljtadqhf/gljtal/t20050914_55269.htm]."China Tibet Information Centre"
• https://web.archive.org/web/20200522001714/http://rt.al.gov.cn/info/1073/4800.htm

{{County-level divisions of Tibet}}

{{Ngari Prefecture}}

Category:Counties of Tibet

Category:Ngari Prefecture