Shaanxi

Encyclopedia

Shaanxi /ʃɑːnˈʃiː/(Chinese: 陕西, Mandarin pronunciation: (About this soundlisten); alternatelyShensi) is a landlocked province of the People’s Republic of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi(NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing(S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ningxia (NW) and Inner Mongolia (N).

Shaanxi covers an area of over 205,000 km2(79,151 sq mi) with about 37 million people, the 16th highest in China. Xi’an – which includes the sites of the former Chinese capitalsFenghao and Chang’an – is the provincial capital as well as the largest city in Northwest China and also one of the oldest cities in China and the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, being the capital for the Western Zhou, Western Han, Jin, Sui and Tangdynasties. Xianyang, which served as the Qin dynasty capital, is just north across Wei River. The other prefecture-level cities into which the province is divided are Ankang, Baoji, Hanzhong, Shangluo, Tongchuan, Weinan, Yan’an and Yulin.

Shaanxi is geographically divided into three parts, namely Northern, Centraland Southern Shaanxi. Northern Shaanxi (or “Shaanbei”) makes up the southeastern portion of the Ordos Basin, and mainly comprises the two prefectural cities of Yulinand Yan’an on the northern Loess Plateau, demarcated from the Ordos Desert and the grasslands of Inner Mongolia’s Ordos City by the Ming Great Wall. Central Shaanxi (or “Shaanzhong”) is also known as the Guanzhongregion, and comprises the drainage basin of lower Wei River east of Mount Long and north of the Qinling Mountains, where the majority of Shaanxi’s population reside. Southern Shaanxi (or “Shaannan”) comprises the three prefectural cities in the edge of the historicalBashu region south of the Qinling Mountains, and includes the three mountainous cities of Hanzhong, Ankang and Shangluo. Along with areas of adjacent Shanxiand Henan provinces, it formed the cradle of Chinese civilization.

The vast majority of the population of Shaanxi is Han Chinese. Mandarin is mainly spoken in Shaanxi, including Zhongyuan Mandarin and Southwestern Mandarin; another variety of Chinese, Jin, is also spoken.

Shaanxi is China’s 15th largest economy, ranking within the middle among China’s administrative divisions. The fossil fuel and high technology sectors compose the two largest industries in Shaanxi Province. The high technology sector includes aircraft and aerospace industries, and Shaanxi produces more than 50% of the R&D and manufacturing equipment for the country’s domestic commercial aviation industry.