Geographical Position
Hunan Province is located in central south of China, between latitudes 2439'N to 3008'N, and longitudes 10847'E to 11415'E, covering an area of 210,000 square km. It is located in the south of the famous Dongting Lake, hence the name Hunan, which literally means south of the lake in Chinese. It is also called Xiang for short, named after the longest river in the province.
In the north, there is Hubei province. The two provinces are separated by the Yangtze River. Linking the rivers and seas, Hunan belongs to the open and development belt of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; In the south, it is adjacent to Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, closing with such open coastal areas and Hong Kong and Macao. The direct container trucks can get to Hong Kong within one day; bonded Jiangxi province on the east, Chingqing City and Guizhou province on the west. Hunan, located between the south coastal open belt and the Yangtze open belt, enjoys a favorable geological location.
Natural Resources
Located in central subtropical zone, Hunan has a continental wet monsoon climate. Its annual temperature averages 16-18, sunshine time 1,300-1,800 hours, frost-free period 278-300 days, and precipitation 1,200-1,700mm. With sufficient sunshine, plentiful rain and distinct seasons, Hunan has favorable conditions for agricultural production.
Population and nationalities
The province has a population of 66,977,000, including an urban population of 23,776.800 and a rural population of 43,200,200. Hunan is a province settled with people of multi-nationalities. Besides Han nationality, there are 50 minorities with a population of 5.2 million, accounting for 8% of the province total. The population of 6 minorities including Tujia, Miao, Dong, Yao, Bai and Hui accounts for 99% of the total of all the minorities.
Natural Resources
Rich in natural resources, Hunan has long been known as a Land of Rice and Fish, the Home of Nonferrous Metals, Home of Non-metallic Minerals and a Tourists Resort. There are more than 2,000 species of woody plants, including 1,000 species of economic plants, 800 species of medicinal plants and 60 species of rare plants (put on the list of the state protection). The growing forest tree amount is 314 million m3, with the forest coverage rate of 53.1%. There are over 40 kinds of rare birds and animals, and over 160 kinds of natural fishes. The surface-water totals more than 200 million cubic meters and the underground water stock comes to 45.5 billion cubic meters. Waterpower resources add up to 15.32 million kW (15,320MW), and exploitable waterpower reaches 10.83 million kW (10,830MW). Of all the more than 160 minerals discovered in the world, Hunan has 141 of them, including 41 kinds such as antimony, tungsten, manganese etc., ranking among the top five in China in terms of recoverable storage amount.
Infrastructure Facilities and Communications
Urban Construction
Hunan has 29 municipal level cities. The capital city of Hunan is Changsha as the largest city in the province. Other cities include Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, Hengyang, Yueyang, Chenzhou, Changde, Shaoyang etc. There are 72 county towns and 998 administrative towns in Hunan province and the urbanization rate is 37%. The urban and town system frame has been progressively formed.
Airport and Harbors
Airplanes straight frights to Hong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok from Huanghua Airport and Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport, the two first-grade international airports, and domestic flights to all main cities of China are available. Changde Airport and Yongzhou Airport and Huaihua Zhijiang Airport have been put into service for domestic flights. The province owns a 5,000-tonnage capacity berths at Chenglingji of Yueyang Foreign Trade Wharf and a 8,000-tonnage capacity berth at Changsha Xianing Harbor, which formed one of the the largest logistic parks in Central China
Highway
Seven national highways including No. 106, 107, 319, 320 extend to every part of the province with total length of 88,200 km. Some high-grade highways have been completed, such as Hunan section of Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, Changsha-Yiyang-Changde Highway, Xiangtan-Shaoyang Highway, Changsha-Liuyang Highway, Yijiawan-Zhuzhou Highway, Changsha-Yiyang-Changde Highway, Xiangtan-Shaoyang Highway, Hengyang-Zaomupu Highway, Changde-Zhangjiajie Highway, Changsha-Linxiang Highway, Yijiawan-Zhuzhou Highway. By the end of 2005, the expressway length achieved 1,403km, ranking 10th in China. The expressway of Shaoyang-Huaihua is under construction and will be completed soon.
