During the early and mid-19th century, the territory of today's Wuzhong—as well as much of the northern Ningxia—became a stronghold of the Jahriyya Sufi order (menhuan), which was headquartered in the town of Jinjipu (a few km south of today's Wuzhong's main urban area). Under the leadership of the order's fourth and fifth shaykhs, Ma Yide (the 1770s-1849) and Ma Hualong (d. 1871), it grew wealthy from the profits of caravan trade across Inner Mongolia, between Baotou, Huhhot and Beijing. Jinjipu became an important commercial and religious center.

The region features many mosques with unique architecture and different styles everywhere. Wuzhong is one of the main settlements of Hui people in Ningxia. In 2019, there were 778,700 Hui people in the city, accounting for 54% of the total population of the city.^[1] Mosques are the main places for Hui people to worship and public activities, and play an important role for the Muslim population.

Weizhou Grand Mosque was constructed during the Ming dynasty in a traditional Chinese palatial style. It was named by the American Episcopal missionary Charles L. Pickens, Jr., who traveled western China in the 1920-1930s and documented many places and people, as "one of the most beautiful in all China."^[4] It was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.^[5][6][7]

During the Muslim Rebellion of 1862–1877, Jinjipu became the headquarters of the rebels in the Ningxia region. The town fell to Zuo Zongtang's troops in January 1871, and over a thousand rebels and residents were massacred; Ma Hualong with his family and Jahriyya officials were executed in March 1871.^[8]

Wuzhong city is located in the middle of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, south of Zhongwei, north of Yinchuan, east of the Dingbian County in the Shaanxi province, on the northeast and northwest Inner Mongolia's Otog Front Banner and Alxa League, on the southeast is Gansu's Qingyang.

Wuzhong city is long from east to west and narrow from north to south. The topography is high in the south and low in the north, with Yinchuan plain in the north and Qingtongxia plain and hilly land in the south. The river plains have an average elevation of 1100 meters, the southern area an elevation of 1300–1900 meters. The city's area consists of parts of the Loess Plateau, Ordos Plateau, Yellow River alluvial plains and mountains. The northern two counties are mostly alluvial plains, the east is located on the Ordos Plateau and includes part of the Maowusu Desert. The southern area is located partially on the Ordos Plateau and partially on the loess plateau.^[9]

The Yellow River is the most important river in Wuzhong, it flows through the northern two counties of Qingtongxia and Litong. Since the Qin and Han dynasties irrigation channels have been built, having a history of 2000 years. Agricultural production consist mainly of wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables. Wuzhong is Ningxia's main grain production base.^[9]

The Loess Plateau in the south, suitable for forestry and animal husbandry, is an important origin of Ningxia Tanyang and Shaimao goats. The main mountain ranges are Luoshan. and Niushoushan, among which Luoshan is one of the three natural forests in Ningxia.^[9]

Wuzhong has oil, gas, coal and limestone reserves.^[9]

The urban area of Wuzhong has a cool arid climate (Köppen BWk) virtually identical to that of Yinchuan, but the more mountainous and higher southern part of the city, exemplified by Mahuangshanxiang, has either a cool semi-arid climate (BSk) or a monsoonal humid continental climate (Dwb). As is typical of northern China, summers are very warm to hot depending on altitude while winters are freezing to frigid but clear with very light snowfall due to the dominance of the Siberian High.