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Capital (and largest city) |
Urumqi | ||||
Language official |
Russian, Uyghur, Chinese(Mandarin) | ||||
others | many others | ||||
Area | app.1,200,000 km² | ||||
Independence | 1989 | ||||
Currency | Ruble |
The Uyghur Socialist Republic is a part of the USSR comprising most of the former Chinese province of Xinjiang.
History[]
Doomsday[]
Communications broke down immediately with the Eastern part of China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was left to fend for itself in the following months. Ethnic tensions quickly rose and separatist sentiment quickly started to rise within the Uyghur majority. The breaking point came as the military officials relieved the political leaders of Xinjiang and established a military junta. The Uyghurs quickly took arms and,with Chinese military and civilian sympathizers, declared the formation of the Third East Turkestan Republic and a civil war started
Help from abroad (1984-1987)[]
Expecting to be left to their own devices,the situation seemed hopeless for the newly established Republic. However, help came from an old ally: the Soviet Union.
The Soviets, secretly wishing to annex the nation after the war was won, supplied East Turkestan with men and material and, a week after signing a similar treaty with Mongolia,signed the "Mutual-Defence and Economic Cooperation Treaty" with East Turkestan. This help was welcomed with open arms by the Republic's government and after three months of heavy fighting, the former PRC generals retreated east with a lot of Han Chinese following them. Over the next two years the pact with the Siberians was strengthened and encompassed a wide array of other arrangements, forming a closer bond with the U.S.S.R.
Joining the Union (1988-1989)[]
Sentiment in the Republic was quickly growing that the Uyghurs could not survive in this harsh new world by themselves. Outside of the USSR and Mongolia to the north, east and west and Tibet to the south, no official contact was made with any other nation.
Seeing as Socialist Siberia was a useful ally and friend over the years and a military power who could aid the Republic in case of attack and since bonds were already extremely strong, the Uyghur leaders decided to formalize the arrangement. The Uyghurs told their Siberian counterparts of their intentions and a referendum to join the Union was held on March 23, 1989. The results were largely in favor of joining as 68% of the electorate voted to join.
And so, on May 25 the Third East Turkestan Republic joined the USSR on the same day as Mongolia, becoming the Uyghur Socialist Republic.
Demographics[]
Ever since the PRC generals retreated with a vast majority of Chinese military personnel and their families, as well as Chinese not wishing to take part in the new Republic the Uyghur people are the overwhelming majority in their Socialist Republic. Over 73,4% are Uyghur, the Chinese count for 18% of the population and there has been a rise in the Russian population in the area up to 5,2%. The rest are other minorities.
Current issues[]
As with other border regions of the new USSR, the Uyghur Republic has problems with raiders and refugees fleeing from the PRC and destroyed parts of the USSR. As a result border patrols have increased over the years. It is also trying to accept a number of Chinese in their Republic which has quickly risen.
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