Nagqu (also Naqu, Nakchu, or Nagchu; ; ) is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet. On May 7, 2018, the former Nagqu Prefecture was officially declared the sixth prefecture-level city in Tibet after Lhasa, Shigatse, Chamdo, Nyingchi and Shannan. The regional area, covering an area of , is bordered by Bayingolin and Hotan Prefectures of Xinjiang to the north, Haixi, Yushu Prefectures of Qinghai and Chamdo to the east, Nyingchi, Lhasa and Shigatse to the south, Ngari Prefecture to the west. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 462,381. Nagqu contains 89 townships, 25 towns and 1283 villages. The main city of Nagqu is by the China National Highway 109 northeast of Lhasa. Amdo, Nyainrong and Xainza are other towns of note. Extremely rich in water resources, with 81% of Tibet's lakes, covering a total area of over , it contains lakes such as Namtso, Siling Lake and rivers such as Dangqu. Every August (the sixth month in the Tibetan calendar), Nagqu hosts the Kyagqen Horse Race, a major event locally attracting tens of thousands of herdsmen to participate in horseracing and archery contests. Etymology Nagqu was once known as "Heihe" () which comes from that the Tibetan word means black river. It was named after Nagqu River which is the upper master stream of the Nu River running through the territory. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was known as "Hala Wusu" (transliteration of the "Black River" in Mongolian). In modern times, Nagqu (the area around Nagqu Town) is called "Wu'erguxiong" () or "Seruxiangba" (). History Nagqu appeared clearly in the earliest historical materials, it was part of the ancient Zhangzhung and it was called Yangtong () in Chinese historical records. In Tibetan historical records, the place was called "Zhuodai" (), meaning "nomadic tribe", and the inhabitants here were called "Zhuoba" (), meaning "nomads"; or "Qiangba" (), meaning "northerner"; or "Changri", it means the northern tribe. In the era of the ascendancy of Zhangzhung, as its inhabitants divided their territory into the inner, outer and middle three parts. The modern Nagqu roughly is the territories of middle Zhangzhung and outer Zhangzhung. The dzong architecture of Dangnuoqiong was the center of middle Zhangzhung, it was located round the lake of Tangra Yumco in the southwest of Nagqu. As the Zhangzhung Regime was weakened, its territory shrank to the west.