Guangdong

|hKóng-tûng gong₃₁ dung₂₄] |pojKńg-tang |bucGuōng-dĕ̤ng |wuukuaon tong |pspCanton, Kwangtung |showflagjp |orderst}} Guangdong ( is a political divisions of China on the southern coast of People's Republic of China The province was previously often written with the alternative English language name Kwangtung Province It surpassed Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who lived in the province for at least six months of the year.http://english.people.com.cn/200501/30/eng20050130_172366.html English people.com.cn]http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/29/content_413299.htm Chinadaily.com ] The provincial capital Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are amongst the most populous and important cities in China. Guangdong is one of Chinas most prosperous provinces; its Gross domestic product has topped the rankings since 1989 amongst all Administrative divisions of China According to provincial annual preliminary statistics,http://210.76.64.38/tjsj/gmjjhs/jdgnsczz/t20100125_72869.htm preliminary statistics of GuangdongGDP in 2009] Guangdongs GDP in 2009 reached Renminbi ,908,159 million, or United States dollar 72,121 million, making its economy roughly the same size as that of Turkey or Indonesia http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/98505/6903538.html GDP of 31 provinces in China released] The Guangdong province has List of China administrative divisions by GDP per capita in China, after Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The province contributes approximately 12% of Chinas national economic output, and is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide-ranging set of multinational and Chinese corporations. Guangdong also hosts the largest Import and Export Fair in China called the Canton Fair in Guangdongs capital city Guangzhou.

Name

"Guang" itself means "expanse" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. "Guangdong" and neighboring Guangxi literally mean "expanse east" and "expanse west". Together, Guangdong and Guangxi are called the "Dual-Guangs" (兩廣 liăng guăng . During the Song dynasty, the two Guangs were formally separated as Guangnan Dong lu (廣南東路) and Guangnan Xi lu (廣南西路), which became abbreviated as Guangdong lu (廣東路) and Guangxi lu (廣西路). The modern abbreviation 粵/粤 (Yue) is related to the Yue (peoples) (百越), a collective name for various peoples that lived in Guangdong and other areas in ancient times. Prior to the introduction of Hanyu Pinyin the province was known as Kwangtung Province One should note that Canton though etymologically derived from a Portuguese language transliteration of "Guangdong", refers onlyto the Guangzhou instead of the whole province, as documented by authoritative English dictionaries. The local people of the city of Guangzhou (Canton) and their language are still commonly referred to as Yue Chinese in English. Because of the prestige of Guangzhou and its accent, Yue Chinese sensu latocan also be used for the phylogenetically related residents and Chinese dialects outside the provincial capital.

History

Guangdong was far away from the centre of ancient Chinese civilization in the north China plain. It was populated by peoples collectively known as the Yue peoples who may have been Kradai and related to the Zhuang people in modern Guangxi Chinese administration in the region began with the Qin Dynasty After establishing the first unification of China the Qin expanded southwards and set up Nanhai Commandery at Panyu District near what is now part of Guangzhou It used to be independent as Nanyue between the fall of Qin and the reign of Emperor Wu of Han The Han Dynasty administered Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam as Jiaozhi Under the Kingdom of Wu of the Three Kingdoms period, Guangdong was made its own province, the Guang Province, in 226. As time passed, the demographics of what is now Guangdong slowly shifted to (Han) Chinese-dominance, especially during several periods of massive migration from the north during periods of political turmoil and/or nomadic incursions from the fall of the Han Dynasty onwards. For example, internal strife in northern China following the rebellion of An Lushan resulted in a 75% increase in the population of Guangzhou prefecture between 740s-750s and 800s-810s.http://www.nhyz.org/yxx/jxzy/zy/zy48.htm nhyz.org] As more migrants arrived, the local population was gradually assimilated to Han Chinese culture,http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?toolpubmed&pubmedid11836649 pubmedcentral.nih.gov] or displaced. Together with Guangxi, Guangdong was made part of Lingnan Circuit (political division Circuit), or Mountain-South Circuit, in 627 during the Tang Dynasty The Guangdong part of Lingnan Circuit was renamed Guangnan East Circuit guǎngnán dōnglù in 971 during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). "Guangnan East" is the source of "Guangdong". As Mongol from the north engaged in their conquest of China in the 13th century, the Song Dynasty#Southern Song retreated southwards, eventually ending up in todays Guangdong. The Battle of Yamen 1279 in Guangdong marked the end of the Southern Song Dynasty (960-1279). During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty Guangdong was a part of Jiangxi Citation needed|dateMay 2010}}. Its present name, "Guangdong Province" was given in early Ming Dynasty Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world. European merchants coming northwards via the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea particularly the Portuguese people and British people traded extensively through Guangzhou. Macau on the southern coast of Guangdong, was the first European settlement in 1557. In the 19th century, it was the opium trade through Guangzhou that triggered the Opium Wars opening an era of foreign incursion and intervention in China. In addition to Macau which was then a History_of_Macau#Portuguese_settlement Hong Kong was ceded to the British, and Guangzhouwan to the French people In the 19th century, Guangdong was also the major port of exit for labourers to Southeast Asia and Western world i.e. United States and Canada As a result, many overseas Chinese communities have their origins in Guangdong. The Cantonese language therefore has proportionately more speakers among overseas Chinese people than mainland Chinese. In the US, there is a large number of Chinese who are descendants of immigrants from the Guangdong region of Taishan (Toisan in Cantonese), who speak a distinctive dialect related to Cantonese called Taishanese (or Toishanese). During the 1850s, the first revolt of the Taiping Rebellion took place in Guangdong. Because of direct contact with the West, Guangdong was the center of anti-Manchu and anti-imperialist activity. The generally acknowledged founder of modern China, Sun Yat-Sen was from Guangdong. During the early 1920s of the Republic of China Guangdong was the staging area for Kuomintang (KMT) to prepare for the Northern Expedition (1926–1927) an effort to bring the various warlord era of China back under the central government. Whampoa Military Academy was built near Guangzhou to train military commanders. In recent years, the province has seen extremely rapid economic growth, aided in part by its close trading links with Hong Kong, which borders it. It is now the province with the highest gross domestic product in China. In 1952, a small section of Guangdongs coastline was given to Guangxi giving it access to the sea. This was reversed in 1955, and then restored in 1965. Hainan Island was originally part of Guangdong but it was separated as its own province in 1988.

Geography

Guangdong faces the South China Sea to the south and has a total of 4,300 km of coastline. Leizhou Peninsula is on the southwestern end of the province. There are a few inactive volcanoes on Leizhou Peninsula. The Pearl River (China) is the convergent point of three upstream rivers: the Dong Jiang Bei Jiang and Xi Jiang The river delta is filled with hundreds of small island . The province is geographically separated from the north by a few mountain range collectively called the Nanling Mountains (南岭). The highest peak in the province is Shikengkong 1,902 meters above sea level Guangdong borders Fujian province to the northeast, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces to the north, Guangxi autonomous region to the west, and Hong Kong and Macau special administrative region (People's Republic of China) to the south. Hainan province is offshore across from the Leizhou Peninsula. Certain of the Pratas Islands which have traditionally been regarded as part of Guangdong Province are administered by the Government of the Republic of China on Taiwan http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/joe-hung/2009/06/22/213223/Sovereignty-over.htm Sovereignty over the Spratly Islands - The China Post 22 June 2009] Cities around the Pearl River Delta include Dongguan Foshan Guangzhou Huizhou Jiangmen Shenzhen Shunde Taishan Zhongshan and Zhuhai Other cities in the province include Chaozhou Chenghai Kaiping Nanhai Shantou Shaoguan Xinhui Zhanjiang Zhaoqing Yangjiang and Yunfu Guangdong has a humid subtropical climate (tropical in the far south), with short, mild, dry, winters and long, hot, wet summers. Average daily highs in Guangzhou in January and July are and respectively, although the humidity makes it feel much hotter in summer. Frost is rare on the coast but may happen a few days each winter well inland.

Economy

File:Guangzhou-electronic-components-shop-0481.jpg business.]] This is a trend of http://www.gd.gov.cn/GD_Info/GD_2_21_e.asp official estimates] of the gross domestic product of the Province of Guangdong with figures in millions of Chinese Yuan | class"wikitable" |- ! Year || Gross domestic product |- | 1980 || 24,521 |- | 1985 || 55,305 |- | 1990 || 140,184 |- | 1995 || 538,132 |- | 2000 || 966,223 |- | 2008 || 3,570,000 |- | 2009 || 3,908,159 |} After the communist takeover and until the start of the Deng Xiaoping reforms in 1978, Guangdong was an economic backwater, although a large underground, service-based economy has always existed. Economic development policies encouraged industrial development in the interior provinces which were weakly joined to Guangdong via transportation links. The government policy of economic autarchy made Guangdongs access to the ocean irrelevant. Deng Xiaopings open door policy radically changed the economy of the province as it was able to take advantage of its access to the ocean, proximity to Hong Kong and historical links to overseas Chinese In addition, until the 1990s when the Tax system in China was reformed, the province benefited from the relatively low rate of taxation placed on it by the central government due to its post-Liberation status of being economically backward. Although Shanghai is often cited as evidence of Chinas success, Guangdongs economic boom exemplifies the reality of the vast labor-intensive manufacturing powerhouse China has become, and all the rewards and shortcomings that come with it.Guangdongs economic boom began with the early 1990s and has since spread to neighboring provinces, and also pulled their populations inward. The economy is based on manufacturing and export. The province is now one of the richest in the nation, with the highest GDP among all the provinces, although wage growth has only recently begun to rise due to a large influx of migrant workers from neighboring provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2009 was 3.91 trillion yuan (US$570 billion). In 2009, Guangdongs primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 201 billion yuan, 1.93 trillion yuan, and 1.78 trillion yuan respectively.http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/98505/6903538.html GDP of 31 provinces in China released] Its per capita GDP reached 40,748 yuan (about US$5,965).http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2010-01/24/content_1518268.htm 经统计局核定2009年广东省人均GDP接近6000美元] Guangdong contributes approximately 12% of the total national economic output.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/04/content_4133837.htm News.xinhuanet.com 02-04-2006] Now, it has three of the six Special Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China Shenzhen Shantou and Zhuhai The affluence of Guangdong, however, remains very much concentrated near the Pearl River Delta In 2008 its foreign trade also grew 7.8% from the previous year and is also by far the largest of all of China. By numbers, Guangdongs foreign trade accounts for more than a quarter of Chinas US$2.56 trillion foreign trade or roughly US$683 billion.http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-01/13/content_6389962.htm Guangdong reports 20% foreign trade growth]

Economic and Technological Development Zones

* Foshan National New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zonehttp://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/foshan-hi-tech-development-zone/ RightSite.asia | Foshan Hi-Tech Development Zone] * Guangzhou Development District * Guangzhou Export Processing Zone * Guangzhou Free Trade Zone * Guangzhou Nansha Economic and Technical Development Zone * Guangzhou Nanhu Lake Tourist Holiday Resort (Chinese Version) * Guangzhou New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone * Huizhou Dayawan Economic and Technological Development Zone * Huizhou Export Processing Zone * Huizhou Zhongkai Hi-Tech Development Zone * Shantou Free Trade Zone * Shatoujiao Free Trade Zone * Shenzhen Export Processing Zone * Shenzhen Futian Free Trade Zonehttp://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/shenzhen-futian-free-trade-zone/ RightSite.asia | Shenzhen Futian Free Trade Zone] * Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Park * Yantian Port Free Trade Zone * Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone (Chinese Version) * Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone * Zhuhai Free Trade Zone * Zhongshan Torch High-tech Industrial Development Zone

Demographics

Guangdong officially became the List of Chinese administrative divisions by population in January 2005. Official statistics had traditionally placed Guangdong as the 4th most populous province of China with about 80 million people (also, Sichuan traditionally the most populous province, was divided into Sichuan and Chongqing in 1997) but recently released information suggests that there are an additional 30 million migrants who reside in Guangdong for at least six months every year, making it the most populous province with a population of more than 110 million.http://media.163.com/05/0201/11/1BGKCSFN0014183O.html media163] The massive influx of migrants from other provinces, dubbed the "floating population", is due to Guangdongs booming economy and high demand for labor. Guangdong is also the ancestral home of large numbers of overseas Chinese Most of the railroad laborers in Canada Western United States and Panama in the 19th century came from Guangdong. Many people from the region also travelled to the US / California during the gold rush of 1849, and also to Australia during its gold rush a decade or so later. Emigration in recent years has slowed with economic prosperity, but this province is still a major source of immigrants to North America and elsewhere in the world. The majority of the provinces population is Han Chinese Within the Han Chinese, the largest subgroup in Guangdong are the Cantonese people Two other major groups are the Teochew people in Chaoshan and the Hakka people in Meizhou There is a small Yao people population in the north. Other smaller List of Chinese ethnic groups include She, Hmong people Li Chinese and Zhuang people

Politics

Guangdong is governed by a dual-party system like the rest of China. The premier is in charge of provincial affairs; however, the Party Secretary keeps things in check.

Relations with Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau while historically parts of Guangdong before becoming colonies of the United Kingdom and Portugal respectively, are Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China a first-order administrative division on the same level as Guangdong. Furthermore, the Basic Law of both SARs explicitly forbid provincial governments from intervening in local politics. As a result, many issues with Hong Kong and Macao, such as border policy and water rights, have been settled by negotiations between the SARs governments and the Guangdong provincial government.

Media

Guangdong and the greater Guangzhou area is served by several Radio Guangdong stations and Guangdong TV There is an English programme produced by Radio Guangdong which broadcasts information about this region to the entire world through the World Radio Network

Culture

The central region, which is also the political and economic center, is populated predominantly by Yue Chinese speakers, though the influx in the last three decades of millions of Putonghua speaking immigrants has diminished Cantonese linguistic dominance somewhat. This region is associated with Cantonese cuisine (simplified Chinese: 粤菜; traditional Chinese: 粵菜). Cantonese opera (simplified Chinese: 粤剧; traditional Chinese: 粵劇) is a form of Chinese opera popular in Cantonese speaking areas. It is very famous. Related Yue dialects are spoken in most of the western half of the province. The area comprising the cities of Chaozhou Shantou and Jieyang in coastal east Guangdong, known as Chaoshan forms its own cultural sphere. The Teochew people here, alongside with Hailufeng people in Shanwei speak Teochew dialect (simplified Chinese: 潮语, traditional Chinese: 潮語), which is a Min Chinese dialect closely related to Min-nan and their cuisine is Chiuchow cuisine (simplified Chinese: 潮州菜; traditional Chinese: 潮州菜). Teochew opera (simplified Chinese: 潮剧, traditional Chinese: 潮劇) is also very famous with a unique form. The Hakka people live in large areas of Guangdong, including Huizhou Meizhou Shenzhen Heyuan Shaoguan and other areas. Much of the Eastern part of Guangdong is populated by the Hakka people except for the Chaozhou and Hailufeng area. Hakka culture include Hakka cuisine (客家菜), Han opera (simplified Chinese: 汉剧; traditional Chinese: 漢劇), Hakka Hanyueand sixian(traditional instrumental music) and Hakka folk songs (客家山歌). [[Putonghua]](Mandarin Chinese) is the language used in education and government and in areas where there are migrants from other provinces, above all in Shenzhen. Cantonese maintains a strong position in common usage and media, even in eastern areas of the province where the local dialects are non-Yue ones.

Education

Colleges and universities

National

*Jinan University (Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Shenzhen) *Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, Zhuhai) *Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (廣東外語外貿大學) *Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine *South China Agricultural University (華南農業大學) (founded 1909) (Guangzhou) *South China University of Technology (Guangzhou)

Provincial

*Dongguan Institute of Technology *Dongguan University of Technology (Dongguan) *Foshan University (Guangzhou, Foshan) *Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (廣州美術學院) *Guangdong Ocean University (廣東海洋大學) *Guangdong University of Business Studies (廣東商學院) *Guangdong Institute of Science and Technology (廣東省科技干部學院) *Guangzhou Medical College (廣州醫學院) *Guangzhou Normal University *Guangdong Pharmaceutical University (廣東藥學院) *Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University (廣東技術師范學院) *Guangzhou Sports University (廣州體育學院) *Guangdong University of Technology (廣東工業大學) *Guangzhou University (廣州大學) *Hanshan Teachers College *Huizhou University *Guangdong Education and Research Network *Guangzhou Education College *Guangdong Institute of Education *Guangdong Medical College *Guangdong Petrochemical Academy *Guangdong Radio & TV. University *Panyu Polytechnic *Shaoguan University *Shenzhen Party School *Shantou University (Shantou) *Shenzhen University (Shenzhen) *Shenzhen Polytechnic *Shunde University (Shunde) *South China Normal University (華南師范大學) *Southern Medical University *Xijiang University *Xinghai Conservatory of Music (星海音樂學院) *Zhanjiang Normal University *Zhaoqing University (肇慶大學) *Zhongkai Agrotechnical College (仲愷農業技術學院) (founded 1927)

Sports

Tourism

Notable attractions include Danxia Mountain Yuexiu Hill in Guangzhou, Star Lake (Zhaoqing) and the Seven Star Crags Dinghu Mountain and the Zhongshan Park for Sun Yat-sen in Zhongshan

Administrative divisions

| class"wikitable" style"font-size:90%;" aligncenter |- ! Map ! # ! Name ! Hanzi ! Hanyu Pinyin ! Administrative Seat |- |rowspan24|File:Guangdong prfc map.png |----------bgcolorlightblue |Colspan5 aligncenter|— [[Sub-provincial city in the Peoples Republic of China|Sub-provincial city]] — |---------- |9 |Guangzhou |廣州市 |Guǎngzhōu Shì |Yuexiu District |---------- |21 |Shenzhen |深圳市 |Shēnzhèn Shì |Futian District |----------bgcolorlightblue |Colspan5 aligncenter|— [[Prefecture-level city]] — |---------- |1 |Qingyuan, Guangdong |清遠市 |Qīngyuǎn Shì |Qingcheng District |---------- |2 |Shaoguan |韶關市 |Sháoguān Shì |Zhenjiang District |---------- |3 |Heyuan |河源市 |Héyuán Shì |Yuancheng District |---------- |4 |Meizhou |梅州市 |Méizhōu Shì |Meijiang District |---------- |5 |Chaozhou |潮州市 |Cháozhōu Shì |Fengxi District |---------- |6 |Zhaoqing |肇慶市 |Zhàoqìng Shì |Duanzhou District |---------- |7 |Yunfu |雲浮市 |Yúnfú Shì |Yuncheng District |---------- |8 |Foshan |佛山市 |Fóshān Shì |Chancheng District |---------- |10 |Dongguan |東莞市 |Dōngguǎn Shì |Dongguan |---------- |11 |Huizhou |惠州市 |Hùizhōu Shì |Huicheng District |---------- |12 |Shanwei |汕尾市 |Shànwěi Shì |Chengqu District, Shanwei |---------- |13 |Jieyang |揭陽市 |Jiēyáng Shì |Rongcheng District |---------- |14 |Shantou |汕頭市 |Shàntóu Shì |Jinping District |---------- |15 |Zhanjiang |湛江市 |Zhànjiāng Shì |Chikan District |---------- |16 |Maoming |茂名市 |Màomíng Shì |Maonan District |---------- |17 |Yangjiang |陽江市 |Yángjiāng Shì |Jiangcheng District |---------- |18 |Jiangmen |江門市 |Jiāngmén Shì |Pengjiang District |---------- |19 |Zhongshan |中山市 |Zhōngshān Shì |Zhongshan |---------- |20 |Zhuhai |珠海市 |Zhūhǎi Shì |Xiangzhou District |} The above division govern, in total, 49 districts, 30 county-level cities, 42 counties, and three autonomous counties. For county-level divisions, see the list of administrative divisions of Guangdong

References

;Economic data *http://info.hktdc.com/mktprof/china/mpgud.htm Economic profile for Guangdong] at Hong Kong Trade Development Council

External links

* http://www.gd.gov.cn/ Guangdong provincial government official website] * http://www.gdstats.gov.cn/tjnj/ml_e.htm Guangdong Statistical Yearbook] * Category:Guangdong Category:Provinces of the People's Republic of China Category:Pearl River Delta Category:Gulf of Tonkin ace:Guangdong ar:كونغدنغ zh-min-nan:Kńg-tang-séng bo:ཀོའོང་ཏུང་ཞིང་ཆེན། bg:Гуандун ca:Guangdong cs:Kuang-tung cy:Guangdong da:Guangdong de:Guangdong et:Guangdong es:Provincia de Cantón eo:Gŭangdongo eu:Guangdong fa:گوانگ‌دونگ fr:Guangdong ga:Guangdong gv:Guangdong gan:廣東 hak:Kóng-tûng ko:광둥 성 hi:ग्वांगदूंग id:Guangdong is:Guangdong it:Guangdong he:גואנגדונג pam:Guangdong sw:Guangdong lt:Guangdongas hu:Guangdong mr:क्वांगतोंग ms:Guangdong cdo:Guōng-dĕ̤ng fj:Guangdong nl:Guangdong ja:広東省 no:Guangdong pnb:گوانگڈونگ pl:Guangdong pt:Guangdong ro:Guangdong ru:Гуандун sr:Гуангдунг sh:Guangdong fi:Guangdong sv:Guangdong tl:Guangdong th:มณฑลกวางตุ้ง tr:Guangdong uk:Провінція Гуандун ug:گۇئاڭدوڭ ئۆلكىسى za:Gvangjdungh vi:Quảng Đông wa:Gouangdong war:Guangdong wuu:广东省 zh-yue:廣東 zh:广东省

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