Yarkant County, also known as Yakan County or Shache County, is a county in the Xinjiang, China, located on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin. It is one of 11 counties administered under Kashgar Prefecture. The county, usually referred to as Yarkand in English, was the seat of an ancient Buddhist kingdom on the southern branch of the Silk Road and the Yarkand Khanate. The county sits at an altitude of 1,189 metres (3,901 ft) and as of 2003 had a population of 373,492.
- Country
- People's Republic of China, Yarkent Khanate, Republic of China, Qing dynasty
- Website
- http://gat.xinjiang.gov.cn/
