Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in the context of "Autonomous prefecture"

Kyrgyz is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia. Kyrgyz is the official language of Kyrgyzstan and a significant minority language in the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, China and in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. There is a very high level of mutual intelligibility between Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Altay. A dialect of Kyrgyz known as Pamiri Kyrgyz is spoken in north-eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Kyrgyz is also spoken by many ethnic Kyrgyz through the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Turkey, parts of northern Pakistan, and Russia.

Kyrgyz was originally written in Göktürk script, gradually replaced by the Perso-Arabic alphabet (in use until 1928 in the USSR, still in use in China). Between 1928 and 1940, a Latin-script alphabet, the Uniform Turkic Alphabet, was used. In 1940, Soviet authorities replaced the Latin script with the Cyrillic alphabet for all Turkic languages on its territory. When Kyrgyzstan became independent following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, a plan to adopt the Latin alphabet became popular. Although the plan has not been implemented, it remains in occasional discussion.

The China–Kyrgyzstan border is 1,063 km (661 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Kazakhstan following a roughly south-west line across various mountain ridges and peaks of the Tian Shan range down to the tripoint with Tajikistan. The border divides (from north to south/east to west) Issyk-Kul Region, Naryn Region and Osh Region in Kyrgyzstan from Aksu Prefecture (to the north and east) and Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture (to the south and west) in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

The China–Tajikistan border is 477 km (296 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Kyrgyzstan following a roughly north–south line across various mountain ridges and peaks of the Pamir range down to the tripoint with Afghanistan. The border divides Murghob District, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan from Akto County, Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture (to the north) and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture (to the south) in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

Uqturpan County or Uchturpan County (transliterated from Uyghur: ئۇچتۇرپان ناھىيىسى; Chinese: 乌什吐鲁番县), also Wushi County (Chinese: 乌什县), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region under the administration of Aksu Prefecture and shares an approximately 150 km (93 mi) long border with Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul Region. The county is bordered to the northeast by Onsu County (Wensu), to the southeast by Aksu city, to the west by Akqi County in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture and to the south by Kalpin County (Keping). It has an area of 9,012 square kilometres (3,480 sq mi) and as of the 2002 census a population of 180,000.

Akto County (also known as Aqtu, Aktu, or Aketao; Chinese: 阿克陶县; pinyin: Ākètáo Xiàn) is a county in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The county borders Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and has five towns, six townships, one ethnic township, and five other township-level divisions under its jurisdiction. The county seat is Akto Town. The county has an area of 24,176 km (9,334 sq mi). In 2015 its population was 221,526; in 2017 it was 231,756.

Occupying the westernmost portion of China, Akto County is highly mountainous, with the Pamir Mountains and Kunlun Mountains both passing through the county. It is bordered by Ulugqat County and Shufu County to the north, by Shule County and 41st Regiment of the XPCC across Yopurga River (岳普湖河) to the northeast, by Yengisar County (Yingjisha), Yarkant County (Shache) to the east, and by Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County (Tashkurgan) to the south. The west and south-west share a border with Kyrgyzstan and a border with Tajikistan; the total border line is more than 380 kilometres (240 mi) long.

Artush (/ɑːrˈtʊʃ/ ar-TUUSH; also transliterated as Artux or Atush) is a county-level city and the capital of Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, China. The government seat is in Guangming Road Subdistrict. As of 2018, it has a population of 285,507 people, 81.4 per cent of whom are Uyghurs.

Artush is the political, economic and cultural center of Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture.