The township that is recognized as the least populous township in the country has always been Yumai Township (Baidu Encyclopedia or online article) in Longzi County, Shannan, Tibet Autonomous Region, because between 1984 and 1995, there was only one family of 4 people in Yumai Township, Tibet, the father was the township chief, and their two daughters were the only villagers. However, by the time of the sixth national census in 2010, the total population of Yumai Township had reached 33. In April 2019, 47 outdoor residents began to relocate to Yumai Township, and the registered population of Yumai Township has reached 191 people. At the time of the sixth national census, there were only 14 people in Qimantak Township in Ruoqiang County, Bazhou, Xinjiang, 19 fewer than Yumai Township in Tibet, and has become the least populous township in the country; now the permanent population of Qimantag Township is even only 9 people, which is already a veritable township with the least population in the country.
Qimantag Township is located in the Arjin Mountain area about 500 kilometers southeast of Ruoqiang County, Bazhou, and belongs to the Qiman Management Committee of the People's Government of Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, which was established in September 2007 (the Qiman Management Committee of Bazhou manages one town and two townships, namely Etumbulak Town, Timurik Township and Qimantag Township, and the management committee is located in Itunbulak Town). "Qimantag" is the meaning of the mountain with flowers and plants, and originates from the fact that the township is located in the south of qimantag mountain. Within the qimantag township is the Argin Mountain National Nature Reserve and the Kumkule Desert, the highest desert in the world. Qimantag Township only has jurisdiction over one administrative village (village committee) Qimantag Village, which is also the only settlement in the township, and the township government is in Qimantag Village.
According to Baidu Encyclopedia, there were about 700 to 800 people in Qimantag Township in the 1980s, which was the most populous period in the history of the township. In 2010, there were about 67 registered residents in the township, all of whom were arranged by the township government to graze cattle, with a permanent population of 14 people. According to page 649 of the China County Statistical Yearbook 2018 (Township Volume) compiled by the Department of Rural Social and Economic Survey of the National Bureau of Statistics, Qimantak Township has a total area of 65,600 square kilometers and a total population of 9 at the end of 2017. It is the township with the largest area and the smallest population in China.