We see that in some countries with a short history, especially former colonial countries, the dividing lines are often longitude and latitude, straight lines and right angles. The boundaries of our country's administrative regions are mostly left over from geographical factors, historical evolution, and ethnic distribution.
The long strip of Gansu Province is formed by topography and history. The Qilian Mountains and the Hexi Corridor in the southwest have become the main part of Gansu Province, and to the north are the banners of Inner Mongolia that existed in the Qing Dynasty, so Gansu Province It became like this.
That big knot was formed after the establishment of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which was separated from Gansu Province.