FACTBOX-China's restive Xinjiang region

July 6 (Reuters) - Rioting erupted in China's restive far western region of Xinjiang on Sunday, killing at least three people when locals burned vehicles and blocked traffic in the regional capital Urumqi, the state news agency reported. [ID:nSP491283]

The official China Daily said 300 to 500 protesters took to the streets in Urumqi, but the exiled Uyghur American Association put it at between 1,000 and 3,000.

Here are some facts about the region.

* Xinjiang in China's far northwest is the country's largest provincial-level administrative unit by area. It covers one-sixth of the country, but is relatively sparsely populated with around 20 million people.

* It is home to 8 million Uighurs, a Turkic, largely Islamic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia. Many resent the growing Han Chinese economic dominance in Xinjiang, as well as government controls on religion and culture.

* Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most politically sensitive regions in China, and in both cases the government has sought to maintain its grip by controlling religious and cultural life while also vowing economic growth and prosperity.

* Xinjiang is strategically located at the borders of Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas producing region.

* The regional governor, Nuer Baikeli, warned at this year's annual meeting of parliament in Beijing that Xinjiang faced threats from violence rippling across south and Central Asia and enforcing stability there would be tough this year. [ID:nPEK116414]

* Xinjiang was hit by some attacks before and during last year's Olympic Games in Beijing. Chinese security officials blamed the violence on independence-seeking Uighur militants. Sixteen armed police were killed in a bomb and stabbing attack in the far western city of Kashgar.