A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of different irrigation modes (drip irrigation and furrow irrigation) and different N application rates (0, 240, 360 and 480 kg N x hm(-2)) on the fertilizer N use efficiency and N losses in a cotton field in Xinjiang, Northwest China. The main N cycling pathways, such as the N uptake by cotton plant, NO3(-)-N residual in soil, NH3 volatilization, NO3(-)-N leaching, and nitrification-denitrification, were quantitatively monitored. Compared with furrow irrigation, drip irrigation increased the seed cotton yield, plant N uptake, and fertilizer N use efficiency significantly. The NO3(-)-N residual in soil was significantly greater under furrow irrigation than under drip irrigation. With the application of fertilizer N, the N loss from NH3 volatilization under drip irrigation occupied 0.06% -0.14% of applied N, and was significantly greater than that under furrow irrigation. The N loss from NO3(-)-N leaching under drip irrigation and furrow irrigation was 4.4% and 8.8% of the applied N, respectively. Compared with furrow irrigation, drip irrigation could significantly decrease the NO3(-)-N leakage rate in leakage water. The nitrification-dinetrification loss under drip irrigation and furrow irrigation was 17.9% and 16.8% of the applied N, respectively. It was suggested that NO3(-)-N leaching and nitrification-denitrification were the main N losses in the cotton fields of Xinjiang.