阿坝州

阿坝州 (full name 阿坝藏族羌族自治州) is a Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture covering most of northwest Sichuan. It contains 九寨沟 and 黄龙 (both UNESCO sites), the 若尔盖 grassland, and 四姑娘山, one of China's premier alpine climbing destinations. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was centred in this prefecture's 汶川县. Aba is the Chinese transliteration of the Tibetan name Ngawa.

The 坝 character means dam in common use, but here it is purely transliteration, so do not read Aba as A-dam. The short form 阿坝 is acceptable, but the full prefecture-level term is 阿坝州.