 Although Xinjiang as a whole is designated as a "Uyghur Autonomous Region", since 1954 more than 50% of Xinjiang's land area are designated autonomous areas for 13 native non-Uyghur groups.The modern Uyghur people experienced ethnogenesis especially since 1955, when the PRC officially recognized their ethnic category—distinct from the Han—of formerly separately self-identified oasis peoples.The PRC's first nuclear test was carried out at Lop Nur, Xinjiang, on 16 October 1964.