Urumqi - Definition and Overview

Ürümqi (Uyghur: ئۈرۈمچى; Uyghur Latin script: Ürümqi; Chinese: 烏魯木齊; Pinyin: Wūlǔmùqí; population about 1.6 million ) is the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country.

It is the largest city in the western half of China, and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the remotest city from any sea at a distance of about 1,400 miles (2500 km) from the nearest coastline.

The actual point of land remotest from the sea is approximately 200 miles away from Ürümqi at Lat. 46 degrees 16.8 minutes N, Long. 86 degrees 40.2 minutes E in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert. It was reached by Britons Nicholas Crane and Dr Richard Crane on 27 June 1986. This position is at a straight-line distance of 1,645 miles (2648 km) from the nearest coastline.

The GDP per capita was ¥17655 (ca. US$2130) in 2003, ranked no. 94 among 659 Chinese cities.