Nagqu Town

Nagqu

那曲镇 · ནག་ཆུ་གྲོང་རྡལ།
Nagqu 那曲镇 · ནག་ཆུ་གྲོང་རྡལ།
Town
	Nagqu
	Nagqu
	Coordinates: 31°29′N 92°03′E / 31.483°N 92.050°E
Country	People's Republic of China
Autonomous region	Tibet
Prefecture-level city	Nagqu
District	Seni
Elevation	4,526 m (14,849 ft)
Time zone	UTC+8 (CST)

Nagqu, Nagchu in original Tibetan or Naqu (Chinese: 那曲; pinyin: Nàqū), also known as Nagchuka or Nagquka, is a town in northern Tibet, seat of the prefecture-level city of Nagqu, approximately 328 km (204 mi) by road north-east of the capital Lhasa, within the People's Republic of China.

Nagqu railway station to the town's west sits on the Qingzang railway at 4,526 m (14,849 ft). "Nagchu (...) is an important stop on both the road and railway line between Qīnghǎi and Tibet. In fact, this is where Hwy 317 ends as it joins the Qīnghǎi–Tibet Hwy (Hwy 109) on its way to Lhasa."^[1]

At the time of the visit in 1950 of Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama, Nagchukha^{[citation needed]} was a small town with only a few clay huts^{[citation needed]} but was also the headquarters of the District Officer, the Dzongpön. It was on the main caravan route coming from Amdo to Central Tibet.^[2]

In 2010 China announced plans to build the highest airport in the world at Nagqu, at an altitude of 4,436 m (14,554 ft),^[3] but construction of the airport has faced repeated delays.

With all months having a mean temperature below 10 °C or 50 °F, due to the town's very high altitude, Nagqu has an alpine climate (Köppen: ET), with long, very cold and dry winters, and short, cool summers.

Climate data for Nagchu, Elevation = 4,505 metres or 14,780 feet
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−2 (28)	−1 (30)	2 (36)	6 (43)	10 (50)	14 (57)	15 (59)	14 (57)	12 (54)	7 (45)	1 (34)	−2 (28)	6 (43)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−13 (9)	−10 (14)	−6 (21)	−1 (30)	3 (37)	7 (45)	9 (48)	8 (46)	5 (41)	0 (32)	−7 (19)	−11 (12)	−1 (30)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−22 (−8)	−19 (−2)	−14 (7)	−9 (16)	−3 (27)	0 (32)	3 (37)	2 (36)	0 (32)	−6 (21)	−15 (5)	−21 (−6)	−8 (18)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	2 (0.1)	2 (0.1)	3 (0.1)	10 (0.4)	26 (1.0)	82 (3.2)	106 (4.2)	94 (3.7)	69 (2.7)	20 (0.8)	3 (0.1)	3 (0.1)	420 (16.5)
Source: weatherbase.com^[4]

Footnotes

^ Planet, Lonely. "Nagchu travel - Lonely Planet". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
^ Tibet is My Country: Autobiography of Thubten Jigme Norbu, Brother of the Dalai Lama as told to Heinrich Harrer, p. 160. First published in German in 1960. English translation by Edward Fitzgerald, published 1960. Reprint, with updated new chapter, (1986): Wisdom Publications, London. ISBN 0-86171-045-2.
^ "Tibet to be location of highest airport in the world." 12 Jan. 2010
^ "Nagchu Climate Guide" - weatherbase.com