Linxia County - Geography

Geography

Linxia County is located in central and south-western parts of the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, extending from the shores of Liujiaxia Reservoir in the north (at 1735 m elevation above the sea level, the lowest part of the county), to Taizu Mountains in the south and Dalijia Mountain (达里加山) (at 4613 m elevation above the sea level, the highest point in the county) in the west.

The county's river network is formed primarily by small rivers that flow to the northeast and north from the mountains that line the county's southwestern border toward the Huanghe River (i.e., these days, the Liujiaxia Reservoir) near the northern end of the county. The largest of these rivers is the Daxia River (大夏河, Daxia He), which flows from the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to cross Linxia County. The river's lower course forms the border between Linxia County and the neighboring Dongxiang Autonomous County to the east. It forms a large bay at its outfall into the Liujiaxia Reservoir.

The county surrounds the prefecture seat, Linxia City, from the north, south, and west, but does not include it, since Linxia City forms a county-level administrative unit of its own.

The county seat is located at Hanji Town (韩集镇), 24 km southwest of Linxia CIty. While most detailed (prefecture-level) maps label that location accordingly, less detailed (provincial) maps simply mark it as "Linxia County" ( 临夏县), which still makes it distinct from the county seat (labeled "Linxia City" (临夏市)). More confusingly, even less detailed maps may mark both Linxia City and Hanji Town simply as "Linxia" (临夏).