Aksai Chin Facts for Kids

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Aksai Chin

India–China border, showing Aksai Chin

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Ākèsài Qīn

Aksai Chin is a disputed border area between China and India. It is largely part of Hotan County, which lies in the southwestern part of Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China, with a small portion on the southeast and south sides lying within the extreme west of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

But it is also claimed by India as a part of the union territory of Ladakh. In 1962, China and India fought a brief war in Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, but in 1993 and 1996, the two countries signed agreements to respect the Line of Actual Control.

Aksai Chin (the name literally means "Chin's desert of white stones") is a very large high-altitude desert of salt that reaches heights up to 5,000 metres. It covers an area of 42,685 km² (16,481 sq mi) of the disputed territory.

Geographically part of the Tibetan Plateau, Aksai Chin is often called the Soda Plain. The region is almost uninhabited, has no permanent settlements, and receives little rain or snow as the Himalayan and other mountains block the rains from the Indian monsoon. Despite this region being nearly uninhabitable and having no resources, it remains strategically important for China as it connects Tibet and Xinjiang.

Besides officials from the Chinese military, the inhabitants of Aksai Chin are, for the most part, members of nomadic groups such as the Bakarwal who regularly pass through the area. The best known settlements are the town of Tianshuihai and the village of Tielongtan.

Line of Actual Control

Images for kids

Map of Central Asia (1873) from T. Douglas Forsyth. Khotan is near top right corner. The border claimed by the British Indian Empire is shown in the two-toned purple and pink band with Shahidulla and the Kilik, Kilian and Sanju Passes north of the border.
The map given by Hung Ta-chen to the British consul at Kashgar in 1893. The boundary, marked with a thin dot-dashed line, matches the Johnson line:pp. 73, 78
Postal map of China published by the Republic of China in 1917. The boundary in Aksai Chin is as per the Johnson line.
Map including the Aksai Chin region (AMS, 1950)
A 1988 CIA map of the western Indo-Chinese border, showing Aksai Chin and other contested territories
The Tarim River Basin, 2008
Northern plains of Aksai Chin looking towards Qitai Daban (Khitai Dawan)

Aksai Chin facts for kids

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