Aksu Prefecture (simplified Chinese: 阿克苏地区; traditional Chinese: 阿克蘇地區; pinyin: Ākèsū Dìqū; Uyghur: ئاقسۇ ۋىلايىتى, Ақсу Вилайити‎, ULY: Aqsu Wilayiti, UYY: Ak̡su Vilayiti?) is located in mid-western Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of 131,161 km2 (50,642 sq mi) and 2.37 million inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 535,657 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of Aksu urban district.[1] The name Aksu is Turkic for 'white water'.