Rutog County

'Rutog' is Tibetan for "mountain shaped like a spear and fork". ==Geography and climate==

Rutog County is located in northwestern Tibet, in the Ngari Prefecture, with a number of territorial borders. It is divided into 12 townships and 30 village committees. The average altitude of the county is with a maximum altitude of . To the north, Rutog County shares borders with Hotan County (Hetian), Qira County (Cele) and Keriya County (Yutian) in Hotan Prefecture (Hetian), Xinjiang. To the east, the county borders Gêrzê County. Rutog County has a rough subarctic climate with long, very cold, sometimes snowy winters and short, cool, humid summers (Dfc) owing its extreme altitude. ==History==

Rutog was part of the Maryul kingdom (modern Ladakh), when it was established in the 10th century. It was again consolidated as part of Ladakh during the reign of Sengge Namgyal, but was later conquered by Lhasa through the Tibet-Ladakh-Mughal War. Rutog and Ladakh continued to have extensive trading relations at all times, with occasional disputes over borders. The headquarters of the region was at Old Rudok (Rutog Dzong; ), a hill top location, which boasted a fort as well as several monasteries. During the period of the British Raj in India, European visitors were expressly prohibited from visiting the Rudok, but the British official E. B. Wakefield managed to visit it in 1939. With the 1950 Chinese annexation of Tibet, Rutog became part of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. In October 1983, the county seat was moved from Old Rudok to the village of Derub (; ). The site of the new town appears to have been originally a suburb of the Derub village called Gyelgosang (; ). ==Administrative divisions==

Rutog county is divided into 1 town and 4 townships: ==Demographics and economy==

{{Historical populations , the residents of the county were Tibetan, there is also a Ladakhi minority. China produces 75% of the world's cashmere wool. In 1984, the average per capita income of Rutog County residents was 478 yuan. The China National Highway 219 passes through Rutog County. ==Incidents==

At around 11 AM on 17 July 2016, nine people, 350 sheep and 110 yaks were buried in an avalanche near the Aru Lake (at ), about from Rutog Town. The avalanche fell on a grazing area and the snow was as much as deep. The local government dispatched rescuers and equipment to the site of the avalanche. The avalanche was described by NASA as one of the largest avalanches in history. On 21 September 2016, another similarly large avalanche occurred just to the south. ==Historical maps==

Historical maps including Rutog: File:China West 1906-08 Sven Hedin.jpg|Map of the expeditions of Sven Hedin (1906–8) including Rutog (labeled as Rudok) (RGS, early 20th century) File:Txu-oclc-6654394-ni-44-3rd-ed.jpg|Map including Rutog (labeled as Rudok) (AMS, 1950) File:Operational Navigation Chart G-7, 6th edition.jpg|Map including the Rutog County area (DMA, 1980) File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 g-7d.jpg|Map including Rutog (Jih-t'u) (DMA, 1995) ==See also==