Aral, Xinjiang

Aral is a sub-prefecture-level city surrounded by Aksu Prefecture in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Aral means "island" in Uyghur. The city's name is often written as Alar.

Aral is the headquarter of the 1st Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and currently administered by the 1st Division. Aral implemented the "division and city integration" (师市合一, shī shì héyī) management system, it shares the same leader group with the 1st Division.

History
According to Radio Free Asia, a United States government-funded news service, Aral was created in the 1950s by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps to facilitate Han Chinese immigration to the region.

Aral became a city in 2002 and its population increased to 166,205 in 2010.

On January 23, 2013, 474.208 km2 of territory was transferred from Awat County (Awati) to Aral city and 802.733 km2 of territory was transferred from Aksu city (Akesu) to Aral city.

Administrative divisions
Aral contains 3 subdistricts, 15 towns, a township, and two township-equivalent regions:

Geography
The city has an administrative area of 5258.739 km2. It is bordered by mountainous regions to the north and northwest and the Taklamakan Desert to the east and south.

Demographics
As of 2015, 167,697 (93.6%) of the 179,214 residents of the county were Han Chinese, 6,036 (3.4%) were Uyghur and 5,481 were from other ethnic groups.

Education
Tarim University is located in Aral.

Transportation
Ala'er Talimu Airport is a regional airport located at 12 km south from Aral city.

Aral Railway Station is located at southwest suburban of the city.