Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and former capital of the Western Xia Empire of the Tanguts. It has an area of 4,467 km2 and a total population of 1.99 million. Its built up area is home to 1,290,170 inhabitants spread on three urban districts. The name of the city literally means "silver river"; the character for "river" is the same as that in Sichuan, but not as those in, for example, the Yellow River.