Alxa League is one of 12 prefecture level divisions and three extant leagues of Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

. The league borders Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

 to the north, Bayan Nur

Bayan Nur

Bayannur is a prefecture-level city in western Inner Mongolia. Until December 1, 2003, the area was called the Bayannur league.Bayannur city has an area of 65,788 km². It borders Mongolia to the north, Alxa to the west, Ordos to the south and Baotou to the east...

 to the northeast, Wuhai

Wuhai

Wuhai is a prefecture-level city and regional center in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It is located on the Huang He between the Gobi and Ordos deserts...

 and Ordos

Ordos City

Ordos is one of the twelve major subdivisions of Inner Mongolia, China. It is located within the Ordos Loop of the Yellow River. Although mainly rural, Ordos is administered as a prefecture-level city...

 to the east, Ningxia

Ningxia

Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...

 to the southeast, and Gansu

Gansu

' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...

 to the south and west. The capital is Bayan Hot (older name: 定远营 Dingyuanying) in the aimag's Left Banner. The Mongolian

Mongolian language

The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...

 variety spoken in this area is the Alasha dialect

Alasha dialect

Alasha ; Mongolian script Alaša, Chinese 阿拉善 Ālāshàn), or ', is a variety in-between Oirat and Mongolian that historically used to belong to Oirat but has come under the influence of Mongolian proper. It is spoken by well above 40.000 speakers in Alasha league in South Mongolia and consists of two...

.

Demographics

In the 2000 census, there were 196,279 inhabitants. Alxa is the least populated region of Inner Mongolia.

Ethnic group	No. of inhabitants	share
Han Han Chinese Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...	140,900	71.79%
Mongols Mongols Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...	44,630	22.74%
Hui Hui people The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...	9,331	4.75%
Manchu Manchu The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...	952	0.49%
Tibetans Tibetan people The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...	146	0.07%
Tu TU Tu is the 2nd-person singular subject pronoun in Spanish, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, French, Irish, Latvian, Romanian, Latin, and Hindustani and may also refer to:* Tuberculin Units, a measure of strength of tuberculin...	68	0.03%
Daur	67	0.03%
Other	185	0.09%

Administrative Subdivisions

Alxa is divided into three banners:

Map
#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2004 est.)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
1	Alxa Left Banner Alxa Left Banner Alxa Left Banner is a banner of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Alxa League.-References:*...	阿拉善左旗	Ālāshàn Zuǒ Qí	140,000	80,412	2
2	Alxa Right Banner Alxa Right Banner Alxa Right Banner is a banner of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Alxa League.-References:*...	阿拉善右旗	Ālāshàn Yòu Qí	20,000	72,556	<1
3	Ejin Banner Ejin Banner Ejin Banner is a banner of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Alxa League.-Transportation:Eljin Banner is served by the Jiayuguan-Ceke and the Linhe-Ceke Railways.-References:*...	额济纳旗	Éjìnà Qí	20,000	114,606	<1