The vast majority of the Aksai Chin region which is disputed between China and India is administered as part of Hotan Prefecture.

The vast majority of the residents of the prefecture are Muslim Uyghurs and live around oases situated between the desolate Taklamakan Desert and Kunlun Mountains.

In the 7th century, the Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar Xuanzang attempted to remedy this lexical change.

Xuanzang, who was well-versed in Sanskrit, proposed that the traditional name was in fact Kustana (गौस्तन) and asserted it meant "breast of the earth".

[13][14] The official Uyghur-Latin transliteration, and therefore English spelling, of the modern city's name is "Hotan" according to the Register of Chinese Geographic Places.

[20] The vast majority of the residents live around oases situated between the desolate Taklamakan Desert and Kunlun Mountains.

[23] In 2014, according to a local government employee in the township of Langru in Hotan County, "Islamic beliefs are very strong" in the prefecture.

[8]: 181 [25][26][27]: 241 [better source needed] Historical English-language maps including modern-day Hotan Prefecture area: