The autonomous region was established on 1 October 1955. In 1955 (the first modern census in China was taken in 1953), Uyghurs were counted as 73% of Xinjiang's total population of 5.11 million. Although Xinjiang as a whole is designated as a "Uyghur Autonomous Region", since 1954 more than 50% of Xinjiang's land area are designated autonomous areas for 13 native non-Uyghur groups. The modern Uyghur people experienced ethnogenesis especially since 1955, when the PRC officially recognized their ethnic category—distinct from the Han—of formerly separately self-identified oasis peoples.