Hunan Facts
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Where is Hunan
Hunan Province is situated in the central region of China, on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It is named after its location, which is to the south of Dongting Lake ("Hu" means lake, and "Nan" means south in Chinese). Hunan is abbreviated to "Xiang (湘)" because its mother river – Xiangjiang, flows south to north through the province. With a flourishing plantation of cotton rose hibiscuses since ancient times, Hunan is also reputed as a "kingdom of cotton rose hibiscus".
Hunan has 13 prefecture-level Cities and one autonomous prefecture, which consist of 122 county-level regions, including 68 counties (7 are autonomous counties), 18 county-level cities, and 36 municipal districts. Changsha is the provincial capital of Hunan Province. As of the end of 2023, the permanent resident population in Hunan Province was 65.68 million.
Hunan Province lies in south-central China between 24°38'-30°08' N and 108°47'-114°15' E.
Hunan is embraced by mountains on the east, south, and west, while hilly in the central regions and flat with lake basins in the north, forming a U-shape terrain with an open-end northeastward. Lingfeng Peak in Zhuzhou's Yanling County, with an elevation of 2115.2 meters, is the highest mountain in the province.
Climate
Hunan has a subtropical seasonally-humid climate with four distinct seasons. It has abundant sunshine, long frost-free periods, and abundant rainfall. The average temperature is 16℃-18℃, and the average number of frost-free days is between 253 and 311. The annual average rainfall measures 1200-1700 mm, which is favorable for agriculture.
Water Resources
Hunan has an extensive network of rivers, with 5.341 rivers have a length of more than 5 km each. Hunan's river system is centered on Dongting Lake and supplemented by four major rivers – Xiangjiang, Zijiang, Yuanshui, and Lishui. The annual average precipitation measures 1,450 mm. The total water resources reach 168.9 billion cubic meters, ranking sixth nationwide. The surface water resources amount to 168.2 billion cubic meters, and the underground water resources amount to 39.15 billion cubic meters. The per capita water resources in Hunan Province are 2,500 cubic meters, slightly higher than the national average.
Land Resources
Hunan has plenty of land resources in various types, which create favorable conditions for agriculture, forestry, husbandry, and fishery.
According to the Communiqué on the Main Data of the Third Land Resource Survey of Hunan Province issued on December 7, 2021, Hunan Province has a total area of 54.434 million mu (3,628,933 ha.) of farmlands, of which paddy fields account for 45.3778 million mu (3,025,186 ha.) or 83.36% of the total; dry lands account for 9,036,400 mu (602,426 ha.) or 16.60%; and, irrigable lands account for 19,800 mu (1,320 ha.) or 0.04. Farmlands are mainly distributed in Changde, Shaoyang, Hengyang, Yueyang, Yongzhou, Huaihua, Yiyang and Chenzhou, accounting for 73.74% of the province's total arable lands.
Hunan has a total area of 190.7508 million mu (12,716,720 ha.) of forests, 2.107 million mu (140,466 ha.) of grassland, and 3.5420 million mu (236,133 ha.) of wetlands.
Mineral resources
Hunan is rich in both nonferrous and non-metallic minerals. By 2020, 146 varieties of minerals had been discovered around the province, with the reserves of 111 types verified. Among them are seven kinds of energy minerals, 39 metal ores, 63 non-metallic minerals, and two types of water and gas minerals. So far, 247 fiscal-funded geological exploration projects (including sequel projects) had been implemented, and 58 large and medium-sized ore fields were discovered.
Biological Resources
With diverse biological resources, Hunan is one of the gene banks of China and the world. There are 13 species under first-class state protection in China, such as the South China tiger, clouded leopard, and elk. There are 1,089 genera and more than 5,500 species of vascular plants throughout the province, including 64 wild plants under national key protection, such as Taxus Chinensis. Featuring complex flora, diverse geographical components, and ancient origin of species, Hunan is reputed as an ancient plant kingdom without massive changes since the Cretaceous and a hometown of ancient relict gymnosperms.
Updated in May 2024