Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County

Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County (Xibe:, Cabcal Sibe beye dasangga siyan, also transliterated as Chapchal, چاپچال شىبە ئاپتونوم ناھىيىسى; شاپشال سىبە اۆتونوميالىق اۋدانى) in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Northern Xinjiang, is the only Xibe autonomous county of China, bordering Kazakhstan's Almaty Region to the west. It has an area of 4,430 square kilometers and a population 160,000 (2000). Qapqal means "the granary" in the Xibe language.

History
The Xibe, sent to garrison the area by the Qing dynasty, were divided into eight niru (companies); each niru established a settlement. The settlements are thus simply referred to as "First Niru" through "Eighth Niru", with the exception of the settlement established by the Sixth, which came to be known as Qapqal, thus giving the county its name.

Subdivisions
Qapqal administered 7 towns, 5 townships, and 1 ethnic township.


 * 169th Regiment of the XPCC (兵团六十九团) (69-تۇەن مەيدانى) (69-تۋان الاڭىنداعى) (69 ᠴᡞ ᡨᠣᠸᠠᠨ ᠴᠠᡢ)
 * Ambanbaq Breeding grounds (安班巴格良繁场) (ئامبانباغ نەسىللىك كۆپەيتىش مەيدانى) (امبانباق سورتتى تۇقىم جەتىلدىرۋ الاڭىنداعى) (ᠠᠮᠪᠠᠨ ᠪᠠᡤᡝ ᠰᠠᡞ᠋ᠨ ᡠᠰᡝ ᡫᡠᠰᡝᠮᠪᡠᠷᡝ ᡫᠠᠯᡝᠨ)
 * Dolat Port of Entry (都拉塔口岸) (دولات پورتى) (دۋلاتى وتكەلى)
 * Ili Prefectural Forestry Field (伊犁州平原林场) (ئىلى ۋىلايەتلىك تۈزلەڭلىك ئورمانچىلىق مەيدانى) (ىلە ايماقتىق ورمان شارۋاشىلىعى الاڭىنداعى)
 * Mountain Area Forest Farm (山区林场) (تاغ رايونى ئورمانچىلىق مەيدانى) (تاۋلى ولكەسى ورمان الاڭىنداعى) (ᠠᠯᡞᠨ ᠪᠠᡞ ᠪᡠᡪᠠᠨ ᡥᡝᠷᡝ)

Media
The county has one Xibe language newspaper, the Qapqal News. A television station broadcasts a few programmes in Xibe as well each month, with Mandarin, Uyghur and Kazakh language content for the rest of the time.