hours of bright sunshine annually. History Golmud is a rather young city. It was first established in 1954 when the Transportation regiments of Qinghai-Tibet Corps set up a food distribution base, staffed by 10 people, at the current location, and in May of that year, construction on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway commenced. Scientific exploration of the mineral resources of Qarhan were undertaken in the 1950s, leading to the discovery of the area's potash and gas fields. Systematic surveying was undertaken in the 1960s and 1970s, with the railway permitting industrial exploitation from the 1980s. The first oil pipeline and potassium fertilizer factory were opened in 1989. The Golmud Kunlun Economic Development Zone was opened in 1992. In 2004, a second pipeline arrived. In the 2010s, an influx of further investment followed realization of the importance of the Sanhu's supplies of lithium and rare earths for modern personal electronics and electric cars. In 2016, over 85% of goods movement with Tibet passed through Golmud. Administrative divisions Subdistricts: () () () () () Towns: Tanggula (གདང་ལ་, ) () Townships: () () Demographics In 2017, the population of the total area of Golmud was approximately 240,494. A 2018 publication by the National Ethnic Affairs Commission reported that ethnic Han Chinese comprise 69.82% of the city's population, and minority ethnic groups comprise 30.18%. The city's is home to 33 ethnic minorities, of which, the largest are the Mongols, Tibetans, and Hui people. Economy The Qarhan Playa has China's largest reserves of salt, potassium, and magnesium, as well as other valuable minerals. Taken together, the mineral resources in the playa were estimated to be worth over 15 trillion renminbi (RMB) as of 2002. The area's salt has also trapped valuable hydrocarbons. The Sebei-1 and Sebei-2 fields near Suli Lake are also China's 4th-largest onshore reserves of natural gas and the entire area may have reserves as high as 1 trillion m³ (35 trillion cu. ft.). The larger Sanhu Depression includes East and West Taijinar, which hold China's largest reserves of lithium. The surrounding countryside also produces gold, copper, jade, lead, and zinc. A pipeline delivers crude oil from Huatugou Oilfield to a refinery at Golmud. The refinery has a capacity of 1 million metric tons a year; is able to produce 100,000 metric tons a year of methanol and 20,000 MT/yr of polypropylene; and has a 100,000 MT/yr gas fractionator. According to the National Ethnic Affairs