新疆地区自古就同中原地区保持着密切联系。早在商代，中原同西域就有玉石贸易。汉代张骞“凿空西域”打通丝绸之路，使者相望于道，商旅不绝于途。唐代“绢马互市”持续繁盛，“参天可汗大道”直通内地，沿途驿站星罗棋布，成为西域先民同中原密切联系的纽带。于阗乐、高昌乐、胡旋舞等西域乐舞深入宫廷，长安城流行西域风。出自今新疆库车的龟兹乐享誉中原，成为隋唐至宋代宫廷燕乐的重要组成部分。近代以来，在中华民族面临生死存亡的危急关头，新疆各族人民同全国人民一道，奋起反抗、共赴国难，共同谱写了可歌可泣的爱国主义篇章。新中国成立以来，新疆各民族关系进入平等、团结、互助、和谐的新时期。

　　Xinjiang has been in close contact with the Central Plains since ancient times. As early as the Shang Dynasty, the Western Regions traded jade with the Central Plains. In the Han Dynasty, imperial envoy Zhang Qian opened up the Silk Road, along which emissaries and merchants traveled. In the Tang Dynasty, merchants from the Central Plains and the Western Regions traded silk and horses, and a grand thoroughfare connected the Western Regions directly to Chang’an, the Tang capital, with courier stations along the way. Music and dances from Khotan, Gaochang and other places in the Western Regions were performed in the Tang court, and the exotic cultures of the Western Regions were popular in Chang’an. The music of Qiuci (today’s Kucha, Xinjiang) enjoyed great fame in the Central Plains, and became an important component of court music in the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties. In modern times, at critical junctures of the Chinese nation, the ethnic peoples in Xinjiang have fought alongside the rest of the country with great patriotism. Since the founding of the PRC, ethnic relations in Xinjiang have entered a new era characterized by equality, solidarity, mutual help, and harmony.

　　新疆自古以来就是多民族聚居地区。最早开发新疆地区的是先秦至秦汉时期生活在天山南北的塞人、月氏人、乌孙人、羌人、龟兹人、焉耆人、于阗人、疏勒人、莎车人、楼兰人、车师人，以及匈奴人、汉人等。魏晋南北朝时期的鲜卑、柔然、高车、嚈哒、吐谷浑，隋唐时期的突厥、吐蕃、回纥，宋辽金时期的契丹，元明清时期的蒙古、女真、党项、哈萨克、柯尔克孜、满、锡伯、达斡尔、回、乌孜别克、塔塔尔族等，每个历史时期都有包括汉族在内的不同民族的大量人口进出新疆地区，带来了不同的生产技术、文化观念、风俗习惯，在交流融合中促进经济社会发展，他们是新疆地区的共同开拓者。至19世纪末，已有维吾尔、汉、哈萨克、蒙古、回、柯尔克孜、满、锡伯、塔吉克、达斡尔、乌孜别克、塔塔尔、俄罗斯等13个主要民族定居新疆，形成维吾尔族人口居多、多民族聚居分布的格局。各民族在新疆地区经过诞育、分化、交融，形成了血浓于水、休戚与共的关系。各民族都为开发、建设、保卫新疆作出了重要贡献，都是新疆的主人。目前，新疆共生活着56个民族，是中国民族成分最全的省级行政区之一。其中，超过100万人口的有维吾尔族、汉族、哈萨克族和回族4个民族，超过10万人口的有柯尔克孜族、蒙古族2个民族。新疆地区既是新疆各民族的家园，也是中华民族共同家园的组成部分。

　　Xinjiang has been a multiethnic region since ancient times. The earliest explorers of Xinjiang included the Sai, Rouzhi, Wusun, Qiang, Qiuci, Yanqi, Khotan, Shule, Shache, Loulan and Cheshi peoples living in the Tianshan Mountains and the Xiongnu and Han peoples in the pre-Qin, Qin and Han dynasties. Following them were peoples of the Han, the Xianbei, Rouran, Gaoche, Yeda, and Tuyuhun in the period of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties; of the Turk, Tubo, and Ouigour in the period of the Sui and Tang dynasties; of the Khitan in the period of the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties; of the Mongol, Jurchen, Dangxiang (Tangut), Kazak, Kirgiz, Manchu, Xibe, Daur, Hui, Uzbek, and Tatar in the period of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Large numbers of various ethnic groups entering Xinjiang in different periods brought technology, culture and ideas, folk customs, and many other aspects of their lives into the region, promoting economic and social development through exchanges and integration. They were all explorers of Xinjiang. By the end of the 19th century, 13 ethnic groups – the Uygur, Han, Kazak, Mongol, Hui, Kirgiz, Manchu, Xibe, Tajik, Daur, Uzbek, Tatar, and Russian – had settled in Xinjiang, with the Uygurs having the largest population. Ethnic groups had grown, developed and integrated with each other despite periods of isolations and conflict, and shared good fortune and hardship in a close relationship. All of them have made important contribution to exploring, developing and protecting Xinjiang, and they are all masters of Xinjiang. Currently inhabited by 56 ethnic groups, Xinjiang is one of the provincial-level administrative regions with the most ethnic groups in China. The Uygur, Han, Kazak and Hui have populations of one million and above, and the Kirgiz and Mongol have populations exceeding 100,000. Today, Xinjiang, home to various ethnic groups, is an integral part of the Chinese nation.

　　新疆地区民族关系的演变，始终和中华各民族关系演变相联系。各民族有隔阂冲突更有交流融合，团结凝聚、共同奋进始终是主流。包括新疆各民族在内的中华各民族，分布上交错杂居，经济上相互依存，文化上兼收并蓄，情感上相互亲近，形成你中有我、我中有你、谁也离不开谁的多元一体格局，是一个大家庭里不同成员的关系。在中华民族大家庭中，新疆各民族手足相亲、守望相助，休戚相关、荣辱与共，共同生产生活，抵御外来侵略，反对民族分裂，维护祖国统一。

　　The evolution of ethnic relations in Xinjiang has always been linked to that between all ethnic groups in China. There have been periods of isolation and conflict, but exchange and integration, and unity and joint effort have always been the prevailing trend. The ethnic groups of China, including those in Xinjiang, live together alongside each other. They are economically interdependent and embrace each other’s culture, and are a unified whole that has become impossible to separate. They are members of the same big family. In this family of the Chinese nation, the ethnic groups in Xinjiang are like brothers and sisters who work and live together and help each other out. They have guarded against foreign aggression, opposed separatist activities, and safeguarded national unification.