Shaanxi

Shaanxi Province
Chinese : 陕西省
Shǎnxī Shěng
Abbreviations: 陕 or 秦  (pinyin: Shǎn or Qín)
Shaanxi is highlighted on this map
Origin of name 陕 shǎn - Shanzhou (now Shan County, Henan)
西 xī - west
"west of Shanzhou"
Administration type Province
Capital
(and largest city)
Xi'an
CPC Ctte Secretary Zhao Leji
Governor Zhao Zhengyong
Area 205,800 km2 (79,500 sq mi) (11th)
 - Latitude {{{Latitude}}}
 - Longitude {{{Longitude}}}
Population (2009)
 - Density
37,720,000 (17th)
180 /km2 (470 /sq mi) (21st)
GDP (2009)
 - per capita
CNY 818.7 billion (17th)
CNY 21,729 (14th)
HDI (2008) 0.773 (medium) (22nd)
Ethnic composition Han - 99.5%
Hui - 0.4%
Prefecture-level 10 divisions
County-level 107 divisions
Township-level* 1745 divisions
ISO 3166-2 CN-61
Official website
www.shaanxi.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
*As at December 31, 2004
Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject China

Shaanxi (simplified Chinese: 陕西; traditional Chinese: 陝西; pinyin: Shǎnxī; Wade–Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province. Shaanxi is the historical home, along with Gansu of the dialect of the Dungans, Hui people who emigrated out of China to Central Asia.

Contents

Name

By regular Hanyu Pinyin rules, if tone marks are not written, both Shaanxi and the neighbouring province of Shanxi should be spelled "Shanxi"; the difference is in tone: Shānxī and Shǎnxī. To make the difference clear without tonal marks, the spelling "Shaanxi" was contrived (following the romanization system of Yuen Ren Chao) for the province of Shǎnxī, while "Shanxi" is used for the province of Shānxī. Shaanxi is the official spelling on Chinese Government's official web portal. This makes "Shaanxi" the only name of Chinese provinces that has not been romanized according to pinyin rules.

History

Shaanxi is considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Thirteen feudal dynasties established their capitals in the province during a span of more than 1,100 years, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.

The province's principal city and current capital, Xi'an, is one of the four great ancient capitals of China and is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, which leads to Europe, Arabia and Africa.

Under the Han Dynasty, the Northern Silk Road was expanded to advance exploration and military purposes to the west. This Northern Silk Road is the northernmost of the Silk Roads and is about 2600 kilometres in length. It connected the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an to the west over the Wushao Ling Pass to Wuwei and emerging in Kashgar before linking to ancient Parthia.[1]

Under the Ming dynasty, Shaanxi was incorporated into Gansu but was again separated in the Qing dynasty.

One of the most devastating earthquakes in history occurred near Hua Shan, in south-eastern part of Shaanxi Province on January 23, 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people (see 1556 Shaanxi earthquake).

The end of the short-lived Jiangxi Soviet signalled the beginning of the Long March by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communists to the Shaanxi Soviet at Yan'an.

Geography

Desert in the north along the border with Inner Mongolia, the Loess Plateau in the central part of the province, the Qinling mountains running east to west in the south central part, and subtropical climate south of the Qinling mountains.

The northern part of Shaanxi is cold in the winter and very hot in summer with dry winter and spring. Its southern portion generally receives more rain. Annual mean temperature is roughly between 9°C and 16°C with January temperature ranging from −11°C to 3.5°C and July temperature ranging from 21°C to 28°C.

Other cities include: Baoji, Hanzhong, Lintong, Tongchuan, Xianyang, Yan'an, Ankang.

Administration

Shaanxi consists of nine prefecture-level cities and one sub-provincial city:

Map # Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Administrative Seat
Shaanxi prfc map.png
— Sub-provincial city —
1 Xi'an 西安市 Xī'ān Shì Weiyang District
— Prefecture-level city —
2 Ankang 安康市 Ānkāng Shì Hanbin District
3 Baoji 宝鸡市 Bǎojī Shì Weibin District
4 Hanzhong 汉中市 Hànzhōng Shì Hantai District
5 Shangluo 商洛市 Shāngluò Shì Shangzhou District
6 Tongchuan 铜川市 Tóngchuān Shì Yaozhou District
7 Weinan 渭南市 Wèinán Shì Linwei District
8 Xianyang 咸阳市 Xiányáng Shì Qindu District
9 Yan'an 延安市 Yán'ān Shì Baota District
10 Yulin 榆林市 Yúlín Shì Yuyang District

See List of administrative divisions of Shaanxi for a complete list of county-level divisions.

Politics

The politics of Shaanxi is structured in a triple party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.

The Governor of Shaanxi is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Shaanxi. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor is considered to have less power than the Shaanxi Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary (中共陕西省委书记), colloquially termed the "Shaanxi CPC Party Chief"; since the Governor is always ranked as the First-Deputy Secretary in the Shaanxi Communist Party of China Provincial Committee.

Shaanxi was established as a provincial government since Qing Dynasty. In 10 January 1950, the People's Government of Shaanxi was established in Xi'an. Ma Minfang was then appointed as the first Governor of Shaanxi.

Economy

Shaanxi's nominal GDP for 2009 was 818.7 billion RMB (112 billion USD) and GDP per capita was 21,729 RMB (3,179 USD), ranking 14nd in the PRC.

Economic and Technological Development Zones

Established in 1992, Baoji Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was approved as a national hi-tech zone by State Council. It has a long-term planned area of 40 square kilometers. The transportation system around the zone includes Xi'an-Xianyang International Airport and National Highway 310. Its encouraged industries are auto parts, electronics, IT, pharmaceutical and bioengineering industry and new materials.[2]

Shaanxi Xi'an Export Processing Zone (XEPZ) was approved on Jun. 21st 2002 by the State Council for its establishment and has been put into operation since Apr. 5th, 2004. As the first state-level Export Processing Zone in northwest China, XEPZ has become one of the 7 pioneer EPZs with the function of bonded logistics in China. XEPZ is under the leadership of the Administrative Committee of Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone (XETDZ), which is designated by Xi'an municipal government to exercise economic and administrative power within the zone. XEPZ is a special economic zone. By now, there are more than 40 enterprises home and abroad settled in XEPZ, and the pillar industries featuring aviation, machinery, electronics and new energy have taken shape.[3]

Established in 1993, Xi'an Economic & Technology Development Zone was approved as a national zone in 2000. The zone is only 20 minutes' away from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and several National Highways pass through here. It has formed four pillar industries include automotive, electronics, food, new materials industry. So far, the zone has attracted more than 1700 enterprises.[4]

Xi'an HTDZ opened its gates in 1991. It was established as a "pivotal location" for investment by high-tech industry companies in central and northwest China. Established in 1991, Xi‘an Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone is a national high-tech zone. The zone is surrounded by several National Highways and it is within 30 minutes' away from Xi'an International Airport. Furthermore, it is ranked as the top 3 high-tech zones in China.[5]

Xi’an Software Park, established in December 1998, is the professional park for Xi’an to develop scale software and service outsourcing industries. The Park has been appraised as a software industry base under the National Torch Program, national software industry base, national software export base, city demonstrational area of national service outsourcing base and it is one of the four parks with “double bases” of software in China currently. Xi’an Software Park assembles 90% of enterprises engaging in software and service outsourcing in Xi’an. There are nearly 780 companies, of which foreign-funded enterprises account for 170 and over 71,000 jobholders in the park by the end of 2008.[6]

Yangling Agriculture Hi-Tech Industrial Zone was approved as a national-level hi-tech development zone by State Council in 1997. It is only 82km away from Xi'an to the east and 70km away from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.[7]

Demographics

Nearly all the people in Shaanxi are ethnic Han Chinese, with pockets of Hui population in the north western region (adjacent to Ningxia). The southern part of Shaanxi, known as Guanzhong, where the provincial capital Xi'an is located, is more populated compared to the northern part.

Culture

Shaanxi cuisine

Tourism

Terracotta Army

Banpo Neolithic village, near Xi'an

Daqin Pagoda Imperial mausoleums Zhao Mausoleum Huashan (Mount Hua), one of the five most famous mountains in China. Taibaishan (Mount Taibai), the highest peak of the Qinling Range. Mausoleum and Terracotta Army Museum of the First Qin Emperor in Xi'an (World Heritage Site) The city of Xi'an: City Walls, Great Mosque, Bell Tower and Drum Tower, Forest of Stone Steles Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Wild Goose Pagoda Yan'an, the destination of the Long March and the center of Chinese Communist revolution from 1935 to 1948 Biang Biang Noodles, one of the "ten strange wonders of Shaanxi" (陝西十大怪)

Media

Education

Universities and colleges

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

National

COSTIND 中华人民共和国国防科学技术工业委员会

Military

Provincial

7 西北大学         陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.nwu.edu.cn/

8 延安大学         陕西省   延安市 本科 http://www.yau.edu.cn/

9 西安理工大学       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xaut.edu.cn/

10 西安建筑科技大学     陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xauat.edu.cn/

11 西安科技大学       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xust.edu.cn/

12 西安石油大学       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xapi.edu.cn/

13 西安工程大学       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xaist.edu.cn/

XIAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

14 西安外国语大学      陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xisu.edu.cn/

15 陕西科技大学       陕西省   咸阳市 本科 http://www.sust.edu.cn/

16 西安邮电学院       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xiyou.edu.cn/

17 陕西中医学院       陕西省   咸阳市 本科 http://www.sntcm.edu.cn/

18 西安医学院        陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xiyi.edu.cn/

19 渭南师范学院       陕西省   渭南市 本科 http://www.wntc.edu.cn/

20 榆林学院         陕西省   榆林市 本科 http://www.ylc.net.cn/

21 陕西理工学院       陕西省   汉中市 本科 http://www.snut.edu.cn/

22 咸阳师范学院       陕西省   咸阳市 本科 http://www.xysfxy.cn/

23 宝鸡文理学院       陕西省   宝鸡市 本科 http://www.bjwlxy.edu.cn/

24 西安财经学院       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xaufe.edu.cn/

25 西北政法大学       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.nwupl.cn/

26 西安体育学院       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xaipe.edu.cn/

27 西安美术学院       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xafa.edu.cn/

28 西安音乐学院       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xacom.edu.cn/

29 西安文理学院       陕西省   西安市 本科 http://www.xawl.org/

30 安康学院         陕西省   安康市 本科 http://www.aktc.net.cn/

31 商洛学院         陕西省   商州市 本科 http://www.slxy.cn

Private (Administrated by Provincial Department of Education)

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

33 西安培华学院       省教育厅  西安市 本科 http://www.peihua.cn/

34 西安欧亚学院       省教育厅  西安市 本科 http://www.eurasia.edu/

35 西安外事学院       省教育厅  西安市 本科 http://www.xaiu.com/

36 西安翻译学院       省教育厅  西安市 本科 http://www.xfuedu.org/

30 西京学院         省教育厅  西安市 本科 http://www.xijing.com.cn/

38 *Xi'an Siyuan University (西安思源学院)

Sports

Professional sports teams based in Shaanxi include:

References

External links