Qilian County belongs to Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, because it is located in the middle of the Qilian Mountains hinterland, north of the ancient Silk Road, Gansu Hexi Corridor, so it is known as the "north gate" of Qinghai.

Qilian County occupies 41% of the total land area of the prefecture. It has jurisdiction over 45 administrative villages in 4 townships, 3 towns, and 15 ethnic groups, including Han, Tibetan, Mongolian and Hui. Ethnic minorities account for 79.2% of the population. The average elevation within the territory is 3169 meters, the county is 2787 meters above sea level, the average annual temperature is 1℃, the annual precipitation is about 420 mm, is a typical plateau continental climate. The administrative area is 13,886 square kilometers. At the end of 2019, the registered population of Qilian County is 52,732.

Qilian is an important resource enrichment area in Qinghai Province. Diverse mineral resources, known as "China's Ural", is the province's resource development key county.
"Qilian" is the Xiongnu language. The Xiongnu called heaven "Qilian", which means "Tianshan Mountain". The main scenic spots in Qilian are the Zhuoer Mountain, the grassland of Qilian Mountain and the Bayi Glacier. Qilian enjoys the reputation of "Qilian in Heaven" and "Switzerland in the East". On May 15, 2019, the Qinghai provincial government announced that 12 counties (cities), including Qilian County, were removed from the poverty-stricken counties list. In September 2019, it was selected as one of the first national tourism demonstration zones.

In 2019, the GDP of Qilian County was 1.83697 million yuan, the added value of the primary industry was 686.7 million yuan, the added value of the secondary industry was 385.75 million yuan, the general public budget revenue was 68.27 million yuan, and the general public budget expenditure was 1576.66 million yuan.