Nagqu

Nagqu was once known as "Heihe" (Chinese: 黑河) which comes the Tibetan word meaning black river. It was named after Nagqu River which is the upper master stream of the Nu River running through the territory. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was known as "Hala Wusu" (transliteration of the "Black River" in Mongolian). In modern times, Nagqu (the area around Nagqu Town) is called "Wu'erguxiong" (吾尔古雄) or "Seruxiangba" (色如襄巴).

Nagqu appeared clearly in the earliest historical materials; it was part of the ancient Zhangzhung and it was called Yangtong (羊同) in Chinese historical records. In Tibetan historical records, the place was called "Zhuodai" (卓岱), meaning "nomadic tribe", and the inhabitants here were called "Zhuoba" (卓巴), meaning "nomads"; or "Qiangba" (羌巴), meaning "northerner"; or "Changri", it means the northern tribe. In the era of the ascendancy of Zhangzhung, as its inhabitants divided their territory into the inner, outer and middle three parts. The modern Nagqu roughly is the territories of middle Zhangzhung and outer Zhangzhung. The dzong architecture of Dangnuoqiong was the center of middle Zhangzhung, it was located round the lake of Tangra Yumco in the southwest of Nagqu. As the Zhangzhung Regime was weakened, its territory shrank to the west. …

Nagqu is located in the northeast of Tibet. Nagqu Town is 330 kilometres (210 mi) by the China National Highway 109 northeast of Lhasa. Nagqu is bordered by Bayingolin and Hotan Prefectures of Xinjiang to the north, Haixi, Yushu Prefectures of Qinghai and Chamdo to the east, Nyingchi, Lhasa and Shigatse to the south, and Ngari Prefecture to the west. It covers an area of 450,537 km2 (173,953 sq mi).) It lies on the southern slope of Tanggula Mountains, on the north side of Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains, and on the eastern end of the Changtang Plateau. The average altitude is more than 4,500 meters (14,800 ft) above sea level. Principal towns in the region include Nagqu Town, Amdo, Nyainrong and Xainza. Nagqu is extremely rich in water resources, with a total surface water resources of about 54 cubic kilometres (13 cu mi), groundwater resources of about 25.1 cubic kilometres (6. …