Guizhou

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贵州省
Guìzhōu Shěng
Abbreviation(s): 黔 or 贵 (pinyin: Qián or Guì)
Guizhou is highlighted on this map
Origin of name 贵 guì - Gui Mountains
州 zhōu - zhou (prefecture)
Administration type Province
Capital and
Largest City
Guiyang
CPC Guizhou Committee Secretary Shi Zongyuan
Governor Lin Shusen (Acting)
Area 176,100 km² (16th)
Population (2004)
 - Density
39,040,000 (15th)
222/km² (18th)
GDP (2004)
 - per capita
CNY 159.2 billion (26th)
CNY 4010 (31st)
HDI (2005) 0.639 (30th) — medium
Major nationalities (2000) Han - 62%
Miao - 12%
Buyi - 8%
Dong - 5%
Tujia - 4%
Yi - 2%
Undistinguished - 2%
Gelao - 2%
Shui - 1%
Prefecture-level divisions 9
County-level divisions 88
Township-level divisions
(December 31, 2004)
1539
ISO 3166-2 CN-52
Official website:
http://www.gzgov.gov.cn
(Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data:
《中国统计年鉴—2005》/ China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382

Source for nationalities data:
《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》/ Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255

Guizhou  (Simplified Chinese: 贵州; Traditional Chinese: 貴州; pinyin: Gùizhōu; Wade-Giles: Kuei-chou; also spelled Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.

Contents

[edit] History

Guizhou was well known by the Chinese for thousands of years but it was not until the Ming dynasty that it came under Chinese domination during which it was made a province. This prompted mass migration from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou. Countless rebellions by its native Miao people occurred throughout the Qing dynasty. It was said in the Qing dynasty that every 30 years there would be minor revolts while every 60 years there would be major rebellions. All the revolts would be violently suppressed by the government.

[edit] Geography

Bouyei minority Shitou village, west Guizhou (near Longgong caves), China.
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Bouyei minority Shitou village, west Guizhou (near Longgong caves), China.

Guizhou adjoins Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality to the north, Yunnan Province to the west, Guangxi Province to the south and Hunan Province to the east. Overall Guizhou is a mountainous province however it is more hilly in the west while the eastern and southern portions are relatively flat. The western part of the province forms part of the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau

Other cities include: Anshun, Kaili, Zunyi, Duyun, Liupanshui and Qingzhen.

Guizhou has a subtropical humid climate. There are few seasonal changes. Its annual average temperature is roughly 10-20°c, with January temperature ranging from 1-10°c and July temperature ranging from 17-28°c.

[edit] Administrative divisions

[edit] Economy

Guizhou is a relatively poor and undeveloped province. It also has a small economy compared to the coastal provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2004 was 159.2 billion yuan (19.75 billion USD). Its per capita GDP of 3568 RMB (470 USD) ranks last in all of the PRC.

Its natural industry includes timber and forestry. Other important industries in the province include energy (electricity generation) and mining, especially in coal, limestone, arsenic, gypsum, and oil-shale. Guizhou's total output of coal was 110 million tons in 2005, a 12% growth from the previous year. [1]

[edit] Demographics

The long-horn tribe, one of the small branches of Miao living in the 12 villages near Zhijing (织金) County, Guizhou Province.  The wooden horns remain daily attire for most women
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The long-horn tribe, one of the small branches of Miao living in the 12 villages near Zhijing (织金) County, Guizhou Province. The wooden horns remain daily attire for most women

Guizhou is one of the provinces that contains the most minority groups. The minority groups account for more than 37% of the total population and they include Yao, Miao, Yi, Qiang, Dong, Zhuang, Buyi, Bai, Tujia, Gelao and Shui. 55.5% of the province area is designated as autonomous regions for them.

[edit] Culture

Guizhou is the home of the Moutai Distillery, distillers of Maotai liquor, China's most famous alcoholic beverage. The Chinese name of the distillery is Zhongguo Guizhou Maotai Jiuchang.

[edit] Tourism

Huang guo shu waterfall
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Huang guo shu waterfall

The province has many covered bridges, called Wind and Rain Bridges. These were built by the Dong minority people.

Huangguoshu Waterfall, the biggest waterfall in China.

The southeastern corner of the province is known for its unique Dong minority culture. Towns such as Rongjiang, Liping, Diping and Zhaoxing are scattered amongst the hills along the border with Guangxi.

The rich population of minorities in Guizhou allow for a great many ethnic festivals throughout the lunar calendar. During the first lunar month (usually February), the early festival in Kaili (east of Guiyang) celebrates local culture with acts of bullfighting, horse racing, pipe playing, and comedy works.

[edit] Miscellaneous topics

[edit] Colleges and universities

Guizhou Normal University (Guiyang); Zunyi Medical College (Zunyi); Guiyang Medical University (Guiyang); Guizhou University for Nationalities (Guiyang); Guizhou College of Finace and Economics (Guiyang); Commercial College of Guizhou (Guiyang); Bijie University; Anshun Vocational and Technology College (Anshun)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Province-level divisions administered by the People's Republic of China Flag of the People's Republic of China
Provinces: Anhui | Fujian | Gansu | Guangdong | Guizhou | Hainan | Hebei | Heilongjiang | Henan | Hubei | Hunan | Jiangsu | Jiangxi | Jilin | Liaoning | Qinghai | Shaanxi | Shandong | Shanxi | Sichuan | Taiwan (claimed) | Yunnan | Zhejiang
Autonomous Regions: Guangxi | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Tibet | Xinjiang
Municipalities: Beijing | Chongqing | Shanghai | Tianjin
Special administrative regions: Hong Kong | Macau
See also: Political status of Taiwan and Taiwan Province (People's Republic of China)