- Gansu Province

Population: 20.7 million

Urban population: 8.1 million

Nationalities: Han, Hui, Tibetan, Dongxiang, Yugur, Baonan, Mongolian, Kazak, Tu, Salar, and Manchu.

Area: 390,000 square kilometers

Altitude: Mostly about 1,000 meters

Climatic features: Subtropical, humid climate in the east changes to a temperate, dry climate in the west: cold, humid, highland climate in the Qilian Mountains; temperatures shift greatly from day to night as well as from season to season in the central and western parts of the province.

Average temperature: -14 C to 3 C in January, 11 C to 27 C in July.

Annual Average Rainfall: 30 - 860 mm; precipitation decreases sharply north of the 37th parallel north latitude; 50-70 percent of the rain falls during the summer.

Physical features: The Qinghai-Tibet, Loess, and Inner Mongolia Plateaus adjoin the province; where the plateaus meet is a narrow, 1,000-km passage, the Hexi or Gansu Corridor, which was part of the ancient Silk Road leading to the Western Regions, present-day Xinjiang and areas further to the west.

Mountains: Qilian Range along the central part of the Gansu-Qinghai border; Beishan Mountains in the north; Dieshan-Minshan Mountains in the southwest.

Rivers: Yellow River and tributaries, Weihe and Taohe Rivers; Bailong River in the south; Heihe, Shule and other inland rivers in the Hexi Corridor.

Products: Wheat, highland barley, millet, broomcorn millet, potatoes, corn, sorghum, rice, rape, soybeans, sugar beet; cotton; sun-cured tobacco; muskmelons, wool, leather; sausage casing; coal, petroleum, nickel, copper, sulphur, zinc.

Administrative divisions: 2 autonomous prefectures, 13 cities, 60 counties, and 7 autonomous counties.

Capital: Lanzhou

Neighboring Areas: Shaanxi, Sichuan, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and Xinjiang; Mongolia.

Major Cities: Lanzhou, Jiayuguan, Tianshui, Yumen, Dunhuang, Jinchang.

Tourist Attractions: Dunhuang, a post on the former Silk road, famous for its Mogao Grottoes; the Jiayuguan Pass, an important outpost in ancient China and the western terminus of the Great Wall.

Source: Atlas of the Peoples Republic of China, Beijing, 1989.

Last modified: Tuesday, December 16, 2003