China's Provinces

Here are all the Chinese provinces. You can click on the column header to sort the table; click on the province to select it in the table and map, or Double Click to go to the province's full information page.

Other pages in this section cover the country of China, the countries that surround China; information on all the principal cities; airports; visitor attractions; universities; the ethnicity of the people of China; thoughts about China's future and China's climate. As well as a detailed page on each individual province (including a map) are other pages describing the geography and historical features of China: the Yellow River; Yangzi River; Great Wall and the Silk Road.

Name	Chinese	Short	Capital	Population	Area	Density	GDP	Literacy	Ethnicity	Information
Tibet	西藏	zàng 藏	Lhasa	3.1	1,230	2.56	29,252	62.23%	46%	details map
Jilin	吉林	jí 吉	Changchun	27.5	187	147.16	50,162	98.08%	9%	details map
Beijing	北京	jīng 京	Beijing City	21.3	17	1254.82	99,995	98.30%	4%	details map
Zhejiang	浙江	zhè 浙	Hangzhou	55.0	102	539.51	72,967	94.38%	10%	details map
Anhui	安徽	wǎn 皖	Hefei	60.6	140	432.60	34,425	91.66%	1%	details map
Hunan	湖南	xiāng 湘	Changsha	67.1	212	316.69	40,287	97.33%	10%	details map
Shanxi	山西	jìn 晋	Taiyuan	36.4	156	233.26	35,064	97.87%	0%	details map
Hebei	河北	jì 冀	Shijiazhuang	73.6	188	391.39	39,984	97.39%	4%	details map
Shandong	山东	lǔ 鲁	Jinan	97.6	157	621.75	60,879	95.03%	1%	details map
Henan	河南	yù 豫	Zhengzhou	100.4	167	601.06	34,808	95.75%	1%	details map
Yunnan	云南	diān 滇	Kunming	47.0	394	119.30	27,264	93.97%	17%	details map
Xinjiang	新疆	xīn 新	Urumqi	22.8	1,600	14.26	40,607	97.64%	7%	details map
Guangxi	广西	guì 桂	Nanning	47.4	237	199.85	33,090	97.29%	38%	details map
Guangdong	广东	yuè 粤	Guangzhou	106.8	178	600.22	63,452	98.04%	2%	details map
Sichuan	四川	chuān 川	Chengdu	81.2	485	167.50	35,128	94.56%	5%	details map
Jiangxi	江西	gàn 赣	Nanchang	45.3	167	271.39	34,660	96.87%	0%	details map
Shaanxi	陕西	shǎn 陕	Xi'an	37.7	206	182.99	46,928	96.26%	1%	details map
Hainan	海南	qióng 琼	Haikou	9.0	34	264.53	38,924	95.92%	17%	details map
Fujian	褔健	mǐn 闽	Fuzhou	37.9	122	310.66	63,472	97.56%	2%	details map
Jiangsu	江苏	sū 苏	Nanjing	79.5	103	771.83	81,874	96.19%	0%	details map
Liaoning	辽宁	liáo 辽	Shenyang	43.9	146	300.73	65,198	98.07%	16%	details map
Hubei	湖北	è 鄂	Wuhan	58.1	186	312.23	47,124	95.42%	4%	details map
Guizhou	贵洲	qián 黔	Guiyang	35.1	174	201.44	26,393	91.26%	38%	details map
Chongqing	重庆	yú 渝	Chongqing City	29.8	82	363.50	47,859	95.70%	7%	details map
Gansu	甘肃	gān 甘	Lanzhou	25.9	454	56.97	26,427	91.31%	9%	details map
Heilongjiang	黑龙江	hēi 黑	Harbin	38.3	469	81.75	39,226	97.94%	5%	details map
Macau	澳门	ào 澳	Macau City	0.6	1	636.20	513,427	91.30%	8%	details map
Inner Mongolia	内蒙古	měng 蒙	Hohhot	25.0	1,200	20.84	71,044	95.93%	21%	details map
Ningxia	宁夏	níng 宁	Yinchuan	6.6	66	99.68	41,834	93.78%	35%	details map
Qinghai	青海	qīng 青	Xining	5.8	720	8.06	39,633	89.77%	46%	details map
Shanghai	上海	hú 沪	Shanghai City	24.2	6	4034.00	97,343	97.26%	1%	details map
Tianjin	天津	jīn 津	Tianjin City	14.9	11	1358.64	105,202	97.90%	3%	details map
Hong Kong	香港	gǎng 港	Hong Kong City	7.3	1	7264.00	253,513	93.50%	6%	details map

Click on a row to select the province and highlight it in the map. Click on a column header to sort the provinces by that column. Here is a key to the information displayed in the table:

Chinese	The province name in Chinese
Capital	The capital city of the province
Short	The short name for the province in Chinese. Used on vehicle license plates.
Population	The population of the province in millions ((National Bureau of Statistics 2014)
Area	The land area of the province in square kilometers (Goddard 1997)
Density	The number of people per square kilometer i.e. (Population/Area)
GDP	Gross Domestic Product in Chinese Yuan of the province per person (National Bureau of Statistics 2014)
Literacy	Proportion of people who can read and write (Bureau of Statistics of the PRC 2010)
Ethnicity	Percentage of people who are not Han Chinese (China Statistical Yearbook 2007)
Information	Link to a full description of the province and also to a Google map of the province.

Geographic terms

The names of Chinese provinces, cities and regions use common elements that are helpful to know when touring China and interpreting maps.

chéng shì	城市	City or large town
chéng zhèn	城镇	Town
chí	池	Small lake; pond or pool
chì lǔ	斥卤	Saline marsh; salt marsh
cūn zi	村子	Village
daǒ	岛	An Island. The character is a representation of a bird on a mountain. As in Qingdao 青岛, Shandong.
dì tú	地图	Map or chart
dòng	峒	A cave or cavern
fēng	峰	Peak or summit of a mountain. As in Chifeng 赤峰, Inner Mongolia
gāo yuán	高原	Plateau
gōng lù	公路	Highway; public road
gōng yuán	公园	Public recreational park
gōu	沟	Ravine or gully
haǐ	海	Sea. As in Haimen 海门, Jiangsu and Qinghai 青海
haǐ yáng	海洋	Ocean (vast sea)
haǐ tān	海滩	Beach
hé	河	River. As in Shihezi 石河, Xinjiang
huǒ shān	火山	Volcano. Literally 'fire mountain'.
hú	湖	Lake. As in Wuhu 芜湖, Anhui
jiāng	江	Large river. As in Lijiang 丽江, Yunnan
pù bù	瀑布	Waterfall
sēn lín	森林	Forest. The two characters are made up of five 'trees'.
shā mò	沙漠	Desert
shān	山	Mountain. As in Foshan 佛山, Guangdong
shān gǔ	山谷	Valley
shān mài	山脉	Mountain Range
shěng	省	Province
shì	市	City
shù lín	树林	Woodland
shuǐ	水	Water. As in Tianshui 天水, Gansu
shuǐ kù	水库	Waterfall (literally 'water storehouse')
tán	潭	Pool or pond. As in Xiangtan 湘潭, Hunan
tiě lù	铁路	Railway; railroad (literally 'iron road')
xī	溪	Stream; brook. As in Benxi 本溪, Liaoning
xiá	峡	Gorge; deep ravine
xiàn	县	County (administrative division)
xiaǒ lù	小路	Path; footpath
yáng	阳	The 'sunny side' of yin-yang so quite often a component of city names open to the sun. As in Shaoyang 邵阳, Hunan
yùn hé	运河	Canal
zhaǒ zé	沼泽	Swamp or marshland.
zhèn	镇	Small town
zhōu	州	Prefecture (administrative division). As in Xuzhou 徐州, Jiangsu; Guangzhou 广州, Guangdong
zì zhì qū	自治区	Autonomous region of minority people.

Source references used for this page: Book : China : Eyewitness Travel:… p. 666; ¤ Book : Mandarin Chinese: The Rough… p. 218-219