Wensu County (), also known as Onsu County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (), is a county in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, under the administration of Aksu Prefecture, bordering Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul Region to the northwest. It has an area of .
Etymology The toponym Wensu () had appeared in historical records of the Western Han Dynasty as one of the 36 states in the Western Regions. The name 'Onsu' means "ten rivers" in Uyghur and other Turkic languages. The name is similar to that of the nearby Zhetysu region which means "seven rivers"- both names consist of a number followed by 'su' (river; water). The name Aksu is Turkic for 'white water'.
In Uyghur, the county is called Aksu Konaxahar () meaning 'the old city of Aksu'.
History Wensu County was established in 1902.
On May 29, 1958, Wensu County was eliminated and its territory made part of Aksu County. In 1962, Wensu County was restored.
In a Radio Free Asia interview, a Han Chinese staffer in the Wensu County local government said that in July 2017, a policy to affix QR codes to all knives belonging to Uyghurs was being carried out.
As of March 2018, every cadre in the county was required to spend eight days a month at the home of villagers. (See also Civil Servant-Family Pair Up)
In the late 2010s, Wensu County was the site of vocational education and training centers (also understood as deradicalization centers, re-education camps or concentration camps). According to a Radio Free Asia interview with an officer at the Wensu county police station, as of August 2018, 30,000 persons, or about one in six Uyghurs in the county (approximately 16% of the overall population of the county), were detained in re-education camps.
Administrative divisions Wensu County administered 8 towns, 4 townships, and 1 ethnic township.
Name Simplified Chinese Hanyu Pinyin Uyghur (UEY) Uyghur Latin (ULY) Administrative division code NotesTowns Onsu Town(Wensu Town) 652922100 Tumxuk Town, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 652922101 formerly Tumxuk Township (吐木秀克乡) Qizil Town 652922102 formerly Qizil Township (克孜勒乡) Aral Town 652922103 formerly Aral Township (阿热勒乡) Jam Town 652922104 formerly Jam Township (佳木乡) Topkhan Town 652922105 Komsumul Town 652922106 Kökyar Town 652922107 Townships Toxula Township 652922200 Chaghraq Township 652922202 Ishlemchi Township 652922204 Gulawat Township(Gule Awati, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) 652922206 Ethnic township Bozdong Kyrgyz Ethnic Township 652922207 (Kyrgyz)
Climate
Economy Agricultural products include rice, wheat, corn, cotton and fruit products. Sheep wool and sheepskins are produced in abundance. Industries produce food, spun cotton, building materials and coal.
, there was about 139,200 acres (919,475 mu) of cultivated land in Onsu.
Demographics
As of 2015, 197,360 of the 259,305 residents of the county were Uyghur, 55,335 were Han Chinese and 6,610 were from other ethnic groups.
As of 1999, 76.17% of the population of Wensu County was Uyghur and 21.43% of the population was Han Chinese.
Transportation China National Highway 314
Historical maps Historical English-language maps including Onsu:
Notes
References