Kuqa^{[lower-alpha 2]} (/ˈkuːtʃə/ KOO-chə) is a county-level city in Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It was once the homeland of the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha.

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Kuqa كۇچار شەھىرى (Uyghur) 库车市 (Chinese) Kuchar, Kucha, Kuche, Qiuci
County-level city
Location of Kuchar County (red) within Aksu Prefecture (yellow) and Xinjiang
Kuqa Location of the seat Show map of Xinjiang Kuqa Kuqa (China) Show map of China
Coordinates: 41°43′N 82°58′E
Country	China
Autonomous region	Xinjiang
Prefecture	Aksu
Municipal seat	Yengisheher Subdistrict (Xincheng Subdistrict)
Area [1]
• Total	15,200 km2 (5,900 sq mi)
Elevation	1,072 m (3,517 ft)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	530,328
• Density	35/km2 (90/sq mi)
Ethnic groups
• Major ethnic groups	Uyghur[3]
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard[lower-alpha 1])
Postal code	842000
Website	www.xjkc.gov.cn (in Chinese)

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According to the Book of Han (completed in 111 CE), Kucha was the largest of the "Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions", with a population of 81,317, including 21,076 persons able to bear arms.^[9]: 156

In 630, Xuanzang, a well-known Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler and translator visited Kucha during the Early Tang period.

In the book "Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib", written in 982 by an unknown Arab or Persian writer, and presented to Abu'l Haret Muhammad, the ruler of Guzgan, the following is written regarding Kucha:

"Kucha is located on the Chinese border and belongs to China, but the indigenous people, Dokuzoguzes, at times are engaged in raids and looting. This city has many advantages."

Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a military general, in his historical book Tarikh-i-Rashidi used the word "Kūsān" for Kucha.

Mahmud Kashgari, in his Compendium of Turkic Languages (Divân-ı Lügati't-Türk), wrote the following about Kucha: "It is one of the cities built by Zülqarnayin (Alexander the Macedonian).".^[10] He also wrote that Kucha was a Uyghur town.^[11]

In 1758, the Qing Dynasty took control of the area, and the Chinese character name 'Kuche' (庫車) was made the name of the area.^[12]

In 1991, there was a bombing attack at a Kuqa County government office and at an XPCC unit.^[13]

In an interview with Radio Free Asia, an officer at the Kuchar County Police Department reported that from June to December 2018, 150 people at the No. 1 Internment Camp in the Yengisher district of Kuchar county had died, corroborating earlier reports attributed to Himit Qari, former area police chief.^[6][7]

On December 20, 2019, Kuqa County was disestablished and Kuqa City was created.^[14]

Kuqa has 4 subdistricts, 8 towns, 6 townships and one other area under its administration:^{[19][20][1][21]}

Agricultural products include wheat, corn, rice, cotton as well as pears, apricots, melons, grapes, pomegranates, figs, etc. Specialty products include Sanbei Sheep (三北羊) lambskin, white apricots and thin-shelled walnuts. Mineral resources include oil and coal. Industries include coal mining, tractor manufacturing and repair, construction and processing for non-staple foods.^[26]

As of 1885^[update], there was about 99,200 acres (654,476 mu) of cultivated land in Kuqa.^[27]

As of 2015, 440,125 of the 492,535 residents of Kuqa County were Uyghur, 49,021 were Han Chinese and 3,389 were from other ethnic groups.^[28]

As of 2002^[update], the county had a population of 450,000.^{[citation needed]}

As of 1999, 89.93% of the population of Kuqa County were Uyghur and 9.49% of the population was Han Chinese.^[29]

Kuqa is served by China National Highway 217, China National Highway 314,^[26] the Southern Xinjiang Railway and Kuche Qiuci Airport.

Kuqa is also the name of the central town (Chinese: 库车镇), located in the easternmost area of Kuqa. It is the second largest town of Aksu Prefecture. Its area size is 14,528.74 square meters and population 470,600, composed of fourteen peoples including the Uyghurs, Hans, Huis, and Mongols. Kuqa is a thriving town of oil and natural gas development of the Tarim Basin, and of tourism, as it was once the homeland of the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha.^{[citation needed]} Its tourist attractions are:

• Kumtura Caves
• Subashi Temple Ruins
• Kizilgaha Caves

• Qurban Mamut, former editor-in-chief of the official Xinjiang Cultural Journal (《新疆文化》) and detainee in the Xinjiang re-education camps^[30][31]

Historical English-language maps including Kuqa:

• Map including Kuqa (labeled as K'U-CH'E (KUCHA)) and surrounding region from the International Map of the World (AMS, 1950)^{[lower-alpha 3]}
• Map including Kuqa (labeled as Kuga/ Kuche/ Kuqaxian) (DMA, 1981)
• From the Operational Navigation Chart; map including Kuqa (K'u-ch'e) (DMA, 1985)^{[lower-alpha 4]}
• Kucha in the Kushan Empire under Kanishka the Great