Golmud

Golmud 格尔木
—  County-level city  —
格尔木市
Golmud railway station
Location of Golmud in Haixi, Qinghai, China
Golmud Location in China
Coordinates (dm): 36°25′N 94°53′E / 36.417°N 94.883°E / 36.417; 94.883Coordinates: 36°25′N 94°53′E / 36.417°N 94.883°E / 36.417; 94.883
Country	China
Province	Qinghai
Prefecture	Haixi
Area
– County-level city	124,500 km2 (48,069.7 sq mi)
– Urban	72 km2 (27.8 sq mi)
Elevation	2,809 m (9,216 ft)
Population (1999)
– County-level city	200,000
– Density	1.6/km2 (4.2/sq mi)
– Urban	130,000
– Urban density	1,805.6/km2 (4,676.4/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Website	http://www.gem.gov.cn/

Golmud
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	格尔木
Traditional Chinese	格爾木
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Gé'ěrmù - Wade–Giles Koerhmu
Mongolian name
Mongolian	γool modu
Tibetan name
Tibetan	ན་གོར་མོ་
Transcriptions - Wylie na-gor-mo

Golmud (Mongolian: Голмод; Chinese: 格尔木; Tibetan: ན་གོར་མོ་), sometimes transliterated as Ge'ermu or Geermu, is a county-level city in Qinghai Province, Western China. Administrated by Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, it is the second largest city in Qinghai and the third largest in the Tibetan Plateau (after Xining and Lhasa). The population is now about 205,700.^[1] The name of the city derives from Mongolian, and its literal meaning in the local Western Mongolian is "Rivers".

Geography

Golmud covers a total area of 124,500 square kilometres (48,100 sq mi). This includes an urban area of 72 square kilometres (28 sq mi). Golmud is located in the central-south part of the Qaidam Basin with an elevation of 2,809 metres (9,216 ft). Around the city there are more than 20 salt lakes of various sizes.

A large part of the county-level city of Golmud forms an exclave, separated from the rest of the county by the western "panhandle" of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Administratively, the exclave forms the so-called Tanggula Town.

Climate

Golmud has a cold arid climate (Köppen BWk), with long, cold winters, and warm summers. The mean monthly temperature drops to −9.1 °C (15.6 °F) in January and rises to 17.9 °C (64 °F) in July, averaging 5.28 °C (41.5 °F) for the year. Precipitation is very low, totalling only 42 millimetres (1.65 in) per annum, falling on 28 days, most of which are during the summer. Relative humidity averages only 32%, and due to this aridity, the area is one of the sunniest in China, with nearly 3100 hours of sunshine per year.

Climate data for Golmud (1971−2000)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−1.3 (29.7)	2.9 (37.2)	8.6 (47.5)	14.5 (58.1)	19.4 (66.9)	22.6 (72.7)	24.7 (76.5)	24.2 (75.6)	19.3 (66.7)	12.9 (55.2)	5.4 (41.7)	−0.2 (31.6)	12.8
Average low °C (°F)	−15.3 (4.5)	−11.6 (11.1)	−6.1 (21.0)	−0.2 (31.6)	5.3 (41.5)	9.4 (48.9)	11.6 (52.9)	10.9 (51.6)	6.3 (43.3)	−1.2 (29.8)	−8.9 (16.0)	−14 (6.8)	−1.2
Precipitation mm (inches)	.6 (0.024)	.4 (0.016)	1.1 (0.043)	.9 (0.035)	3.7 (0.146)	8.5 (0.335)	13.5 (0.531)	7.8 (0.307)	3.4 (0.134)	.9 (0.035)	.7 (0.028)	.7 (0.028)	42.2 (1.661)
% humidity	39	30	27	24	27	33	37	34	33	29	32	38	31.9
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	1.4	.8	1.1	1.0	2.6	5.1	6.4	4.2	2.4	.7	.9	1.1	27.7
Sunshine hours	219.9	210.9	247.7	274.3	295.3	273.4	276.4	284.6	261.2	277.7	247.7	227.3	3,096.4
Source: China Meteorological Administration [2]

Demographics

As of 1999, the population of the total area of Golmud is approximately 200,000, the town has 130,000 inhabitants with ethnic Han Chinese comprising 90.2%.

Economy

Due to its location, Golmud abounds with natural resources from nearby salt lakes. Thus, industries involving salt lake chemicals have sprung up. Qarham Salt Lake to the northeast of Golmud proper boasts an area of 5,856 km², making it the biggest inland salt lake in the world. Qarham Salt Lake resources are estimated to be worth over 15 trillion yuan. The lake is also China's largest production base for potassium, magnesium, and salt. Golmud also possesses natural gas reserves of 1 trillion m³ plus over 50 varieties of minerals like gold, copper, jade and precious stones, lead, and zinc. Other important industries in Golmud include petrochemicals, oil refineries, and gas fields. Statistics for 2001 show that the city's nominal GDP totalled 2.213 billion yuan, a rise of 31.9% from the previous year and the highest growth rate since 1990. The Golmud Kunlun Economic Development Zone, which consists of an area of 28 km², was built in 1992. Golmud is planned to become "China's Salt Lake City".^[3][4]

Transportation

Railway

See also: Golmud railway station

Golmud lies along the Qingzang railway(Qinghai-Tibet Railway), a 1956 km railroad that starts from Xining and ends at Lhasa. The Golmud-Lhasa section of 1,142 km was the last and most challenging part of the Qingzang railway to be completed. After construction of 5 years, the first train for Lhasa left Golmud on July 1, 2006.

Highways

• The Golmud-Lhasa highway, extending 1,050 km, is part of the 1,930-km Qinghai-Tibet highway (China National Highway 109) connecting Xining and Lhasa.
• China National Highway 215, runs north from Golmud to western Gansu (Dunhuang)

Airport

• Golmud Airport

References

1. ^ [1] "Reservoir nearing collapse poses threat to Qinghai Tibet railway."
2. ^ "中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集" (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. http://cdc.cma.gov.cn/shuju/search1.jsp?dsid=SURF_CLI_CHN_MUL_MMON_19712000_CES&tpcat=SURF&type=table&pageid=3. 
3. ^ City in Gobi Desert aims high. SINA English, 10 July 2002.
4. ^ Golmud City set to become China's Salt Lake City. Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections, 28 June 2002.

External links

• Official website (Chinese)