KULDJA

also spelled Kulja, Chinese (Wade-Giles) I-ning, or (Pinyin) Gulja, or Yining, city in western Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. It is the chief city, agricultural market, and commercial centre of the I-li River valley, which is a principal route from the Sinkiang region into Central Asia. The valley is far wetter than any other part of Sinkiang and has rich grazing land. Kuldja has been a strategic centre since early times, being known to the T'ang dynasty (618907) by the name K'ung-yeh and to the Mongols as Almarikh, under which name it became the capital of the 13th-century Mongol conqueror Chagatai Khan. It first came under direct Chinese control in 175557, during the wars with the Dzungars. The Chinese subsequently established several forts near the I-li River. In the 1870s the area figured in a prolonged border dispute between China and Russia. Kuldja is a centre for textile manufacturing, food processing, and leather production. The valley is largely under cultivation, though the uplands still support the herding of sheep, cattle, and horses. The population is mostly Kazak, but around Kuldja there are a large settlement of Sibo (Tungusic) people and some Mongols. Pop. (1990 est.) 177,193.