新疆地區(qū)自古就同中原地區(qū)保持著密切聯(lián)系。早在商代，中原同西域就有玉石貿(mào)易。漢代張騫“鑿空西域”打通絲綢之路，使者相望于道，商旅不絕于途。唐代“絹馬互市”持續(xù)繁盛，“參天可汗大道”直通內(nèi)地，沿途驛站星羅棋布，成為西域先民同中原密切聯(lián)系的紐帶。于闐樂、高昌樂、胡旋舞等西域樂舞深入宮廷，長安城流行西域風(fēng)。出自今新疆庫車的龜茲樂享譽中原，成為隋唐至宋代宮廷燕樂的重要組成部分。近代以來，在中華民族面臨生死存亡的危急關(guān)頭，新疆各族人民同全國人民一道，奮起反抗、共赴國難，共同譜寫了可歌可泣的愛國主義篇章。新中國成立以來，新疆各民族關(guān)系進入平等、團結(jié)、互助、和諧的新時期。

　　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.

　　新疆自古以來就是多民族聚居地區(qū)。最早開發(fā)新疆地區(qū)的是先秦至秦漢時期生活在天山南北的塞人、月氏人、烏孫人、羌人、龜茲人、焉耆人、于闐人、疏勒人、莎車人、樓蘭人、車師人，以及匈奴人、漢人等。魏晉南北朝時期的鮮卑、柔然、高車、嚈噠、吐谷渾，隋唐時期的突厥、吐蕃、回紇，宋遼金時期的契丹，元明清時期的蒙古、女真、黨項、哈薩克、柯爾克孜、滿、錫伯、達(dá)斡爾、回、烏孜別克、塔塔爾族等，每個歷史時期都有包括漢族在內(nèi)的不同民族的大量人口進出新疆地區(qū)，帶來了不同的生產(chǎn)技術(shù)、文化觀念、風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣，在交流融合中促進經(jīng)濟社會發(fā)展，他們是新疆地區(qū)的共同開拓者。至19世紀(jì)末，已有維吾爾、漢、哈薩克、蒙古、回、柯爾克孜、滿、錫伯、塔吉克、達(dá)斡爾、烏孜別克、塔塔爾、俄羅斯等13個主要民族定居新疆，形成維吾爾族人口居多、多民族聚居分布的格局。各民族在新疆地區(qū)經(jīng)過誕育、分化、交融，形成了血濃于水、休戚與共的關(guān)系。各民族都為開發(fā)、建設(shè)、保衛(wèi)新疆作出了重要貢獻，都是新疆的主人。目前，新疆共生活著56個民族，是中國民族成分最全的省級行政區(qū)之一。其中，超過100萬人口的有維吾爾族、漢族、哈薩克族和回族4個民族，超過10萬人口的有柯爾克孜族、蒙古族2個民族。新疆地區(qū)既是新疆各民族的家園，也是中華民族共同家園的組成部分。

　　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.

　　新疆地區(qū)民族關(guān)系的演變，始終和中華各民族關(guān)系演變相聯(lián)系。各民族有隔閡沖突更有交流融合，團結(jié)凝聚、共同奮進始終是主流。包括新疆各民族在內(nèi)的中華各民族，分布上交錯雜居，經(jīng)濟上相互依存，文化上兼收并蓄，情感上相互親近，形成你中有我、我中有你、誰也離不開誰的多元一體格局，是一個大家庭里不同成員的關(guān)系。在中華民族大家庭中，新疆各民族手足相親、守望相助，休戚相關(guān)、榮辱與共，共同生產(chǎn)生活，抵御外來侵略，反對民族分裂，維護祖國統(tǒng)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.