Korla is the capital of the Bayangol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, which occupies an area of 478,700 square kilometers in the southern part of Xinjiang. Situated on the northern fringe of the Tarim Basin and the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, between latitude 414 and 424 north and longitude 852 and 867 east Korla, which is 471 kilometers from Urumqi, covers an area of 7,449 square kilome