Library: Asian Studies by Credo Reference: Geography

Provinces

Anhui: Topic Page
Province of eastern China, bounded to the north by Shandong, to the east by Jiangsu, to the southeast by Zhejiang, to the south by Jiangxi, to the southwest by Hubei, and to the northwest by Henan provinces.
Guangdong: Topic Page
Province of south China, bounded to the north by Hunan and Jiangxi; to the northeast by Fujian; to the south by the South China Sea, Hong Kong (since 1997 an enclave of Guangdong province), Macau, and the island province of Hainan.
Hebei: Topic Page
Province of north China, bounded to the north by Inner Mongolia, to the northeast by Liaoning, to the east by the Bohai Gulf, to the south by Shandong and Henan, and to the west by Shanxi.
Henan: Topic Page
Province of east central China, bounded to the north by Hebei, to the east by Shandong and Anhui, to the south by Hubei, and to the west by Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces.
Hubei: Topic Page
Province of central China, bounded to the north by Henan, to the east by Anhui, to the south by Jiangxi and Hunan, and to the west by Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces.
Hunan: Topic Page
Province of south central China, bounded to the north by Hubei, to the east by Jiangxi, to the south by Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and to the west by Guizhou and Sichuan.
Jhejiang: Topic Page
Coastal province of southeast China, bounded to the north by Jiangsu, to the east by the East China Sea, to the south by Fujian, and to the west by Jiangxi and Anhui.
Jiangxi: Topic Page
Province of southeast China, bounded to the north by Hubei and Anhui, to the east by Zhejiang and Fujian, to the south by Guangdong, and to the west by Hunan.
Liaoning: Topic Page
Province (1994 est. pop. 40,070,000), c.58,400 sq mi (151,295 sq km), NE China, on the Bohai and Korea Bay.
Qinghai: Topic Page
Province of northwest China, bounded to the north by Gansu, to the south by Sichuan, to the west by Tibet, and to the northwest by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Shanxi: Topic Page
Province of north China, bounded to the north by Inner Mongolia, to the east by Hebei, to the south by Henan, and to the west by Shaanxi.
Shandong: Topic Page
Province of east China, bounded to the north by the Bohai Gulf, to the east by the Yellow Sea, to the south by Jiangsu and Anhui, and to the west by Henan and Hebei provinces.
Sichuan: Topic page
Province of central China, bounded to the north by Qinghai, Gansu, and Shaanxi; to the east by Hubei and Hunan; to the south by Guizhou and Yunnan; and to the west by Tibet.

Cities

Beijing: Topic Page
Capital of China; parts of the northeast municipal boundary coincide with sections of the Great Wall of China; population (2002 est) 7,699,300. The municipality of Beijing has an area of 17,800 sq km/6,871 sq mi and a population (2005) of 14,930,000.
Guangzhou: Topic Page
Capital of Guangdong province, south China; population (2000) 7,547,500. On the Zhu River, Guangzhou is one of China's major ports, handling some 15% of the country's foreign trade.
Hangzhou: Topic Page
Port and capital of Zhejiang province, China, on the mouth of the Qiantang River.
Nanjing: Topic Page
Inland port and capital of Jiangsu province, China, 270 km/165 mi northwest of Shanghai; population (2000) 3,783,900.
Qingdao: Topic Page
Port and summer resort in Shandong province, east China, on the Yellow Sea; population (2000) 2,721,000.
Shanghai: Topic Page
Largest urban settlement and mainland port in China, on the East China Sea in Jiangsu province, on the Huangpu and Wusong rivers.
Shenyang: Topic Page
Capital of Liaoning province, China; population (2000) 4,596,800.
Tianjin: Topic Page
City and special municipality in Hebei province, north China; municipality area 4,000 sq km/1,544 sq mi; city population (2000) 6,839,000; municipality 9,848,700.
Xi'an: Topic Page
Industrial city and capital of Shaanxi province, China, on the Wei He River; population (2000) 3,870,500.
Xiamen: Topic Page
Industrial port in Fujian province, southeast China, on Xiamen Island; population (2000) 1,454,500.

Autonomous Regions

Inner Mongolia
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Autonomous region of north China from 1947; bounded to the north by Mongolia and Russia; to the east by Heilongjiang and Jilin; to the southeast by Liaoning; to the south by Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region; and to the west by Gansu
Guangxi Zhuang: Topic Page
Autonomous region in south China, bounded to the north by Guizhou, to the northeast by Hunan, to the east by Guangdong, to the south by the Gulf of Tongking, to the southwest by Vietnam.
Ningxia Hui: Topic Page
Administrative area of northwest China, bounded to the north by Inner Mongolia, to the east by Shaanxi, and to the south by Gansu.
Xinjiang Uygur: Topic Page
Autonomous region of northwest China, bounded to the north by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia; to the east by Mongolia and Gansu; to the south by Qinghai and Tibet.

Special Areas of Interest

Hong Kong: Topic Page
Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000).
Macao: Topic Page
Port. Macau, Mandarin Aomen, special administrative region of China, formerly administered by Portugal (2005 est. pop. 449,000), 6.5 sq mi (16.9 sq km), adjoining Guangdong province.
Taiwan: Topic Page
Officially Republic of China, island nation in the Pacific Ocean, separated from the mainland of S China by the Taiwan Strait.
Tiananmen Square: Topic Page
Paved open space in central Beijing (Peking), China, the largest public square in the world (area 0.4 sq km/0.14 sq mi).
Tibet: Topic Page
Tibetan Bodyul, Mandarin Xizang, autonomous region (1994 est. pop. 2,300,000), c.471,700 sq mi (1,221,700 sq km), SW China. A Chinese autonomous region since 1951.

Agriculture

Agriculture: Topic Page
The practice of farming, including the cultivation of the soil (for raising crops) and the raising of domesticated animals.
Irrigation: Topic Page
In agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice.
Rice: Topic Page
Cereal grain (Oryza sativa) of the grass family (Graminae), probably native to the deltas of the great Asian rivers—the Ganges, the Chang (Yangtze), and the Tigris and Euphrates.
Silk: Topic Page
Fine, horny, translucent, yellowish fiber produced by the silkworm in making its cocoon and covered with sericin, a protein.
Tea: Topic Page
Tree or bush, its leaves, and the beverage made from these leaves.

Land Features

East China Sea
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.480,000 sq mi (1,243,200 sq km), bounded on the E by the Kyushu and Ryukyu islands, on the S by Taiwan, and on the W by China. It is connected with the South China Sea by the Taiwan Strait and with the Sea of Japan by the Korea Strait; it opens in the N to the Yellow Sea.
Gobi Desert: Topic Page
Vast desert region of Central Asia in the independent state of Mongolia, and Inner Mongolia, China.
Huang He (Yellow River): Topic Page
The Huang (Yellow) River, known as “China’s sorrow” for its disastrous flooding throughout history, is China’s second longest, after the Yangzi (Chang) River. Named for the yellow silt in its waters, the lower reaches of the river are considered the cradle of Chinese civilization.
South China Sea
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Western arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), between the SE Asian mainland and Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo.