Karamay (also spelled Karamai) is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is surrounded on all sides by Tacheng Prefecture. The name of the city comes from the Uyghur language and means "black oil", referring to the oil fields near the city.

Quick Facts 克拉玛依市 (Chinese)قاراماي شەھىرى (Uyghur)Karamai, Country ...

Karamay 克拉玛依市 (Chinese) قاراماي شەھىرى (Uyghur) Karamai
Prefecture-level city
The Karamay River running through Karamay District
Location of Karamay City jurisdiction in Xinjiang
Karamay Location of the city centre in Xinjiang Show map of Dzungaria Karamay Karamay (Xinjiang) Show map of Xinjiang Karamay Karamay (China) Show map of China
Coordinates (Karamay municipal government): 45°34′48″N 84°53′21″E
Country	People's Republic of China
Region	Xinjiang
Municipal seat	Karamay District
Subdivisions	Districts Karamay Baijiantan Dushanzi Uroho
Area
• Total	7,734 km2 (2,986 sq mi)
Elevation	354 m (1,161 ft)
Population  (2020)
• Total	490,348
• Density	63/km2 (160/sq mi)
• Major Nationalities	Han - 74.8%
GDP[1]
• Total	CN¥ 97.3 billion US$ 14.1 billion
• Per capita	CN¥ 210,426 US$ 30,452
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code	834000
Area code	0990
ISO 3166 code	CN-XJ-02
License Plate Prefix	新J
Website	www.klmy.gov.cn/Pages/default.aspx

Close

Karamay was the site of one of the worst disasters in modern Chinese history, the 1994 Karamay fire, when 324 people, including 288 school children, lost their lives in a cinema fire on 8 December 1994.^[2]

Karamay City has jurisdiction over four districts (区; qū). They are not contiguous as Dushanzi District is located south of the Lanxin Railway and forms an exclave, separated from the rest of Karamay City by Kuytun City. Together with Kuytun City, Karamay City forms an enclave surrounded on all sides by Tacheng Prefecture.

Karamay is located in the northwest of the Dzungarian basin, with an average elevation of 400 meters (1,300 ft). Its administrative area ranges in latitude from 44° 07' to 46° 08' N and in longitude from 80° 44' to 86° 01' E and has a maximal 240 km (150 mi) north–south extent and reaches 110 km (68 mi) in east–west width. It borders Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County to the northeast, Shawan County to the southeast, Toli County and Wusu to the west and Kuytun to the south.

The naturally available water supply in the Karamay area is limited: it mostly consists of two small rivers (the Baiyang River and the Da'erbute River (达尔不特河) flowing into the Dzungarian Basin from the mountains of its northwestern rim. In addition, the city receives water from the Irtysh River, over the Irtysh–Karamay Canal, which was officially opened in 2008.^[3]

A number of natural (Ailik Lake) and artificial (Fengcheng, Huangyangquan) reservoirs are located in Karamay's northeastern Urho District; they all are replenished, directly or indirectly, by water from the Irtysh–Karamay Canal.

According to the 2010 census, over 80% of Karamay's population are Han Chinese, with minorities such as Uighur, Kazakhs, Mongols and Hui making up the rest. The population of 2010 is 391,008, a rise from the 270,232 of 2000 census. The population density is 50.6 inhabitants per km².^[7] The 2015 population estimate is 401,468.^[8]

Population by ethnicity (2010)^[9]

In 1955, one of the largest oil fields in China was discovered there. Since then, the city has grown into an oil-producing and refining center.

In 2008 the GDP reached ¥66.1 billion and GDP per capita reached ¥242,391 (US$34,901), ranking first among 659 cities in mainland China.

• Kuytun–Beitun Railway. There are passenger stations in Karamay itself and in Wuwu New Town (五五新镇街道), south of central Karamay.
• Karamay–Tacheng Railway (under construction as of 2017)
• Kelamayi Guhai Airport
• China National Highway 217

• Adil Mijit, comedian
• Gulimina Mahamuti, pianist