Gansu

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Coordinates: 102°20′E / 38°N 102.333°E / 38; 102.333

Gansu Province
Chinese : 甘肃省
Gānsù Shěng


Abbreviations: 甘 or 陇  (pinyin: Gān or Lǒng)

Origin of name 甘 gān - Ganzhou (Zhangye)
肃 sù - Suzhou (Jiuquan)
Administration type Province
Capital
(and largest city) Lanzhou
CPC Ctte Secretary Lu Hao
Governor Xu Shousheng (acting)
Area 454,000 km² (175,000 sq mi) (7th)
Population (2009)
 - Density 30,711,287 (22nd)
73 /km² (190 /sq mi) (27th)
GDP (2008)
 - per capita CNY 317.6 billion (27th)
CNY 12,110 (30th)
HDI (2006) 0.687 (medium) (28th)
Ethnic composition Han - 91%
Hui - 5%
Dongxiang - 2%
Tibetan - 2%
Prefecture-level 14 divisions
County-level 86 divisions
Township-level* 1344 divisions
ISO 3166-2 CN-62
Official website
http://www.gansu.gov.cn
(Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data: Source for nationalities data: *As at December 31, 2004
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Gansu (help·info) (simplified Chinese: 甘肃; traditional Chinese: 甘肅; pinyin: Gānsù; Wade-Giles: Kan-su, Kansu, Kan-suh) is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It lies between Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and the Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west. The Yellow River passes the southern part of the province. It has a population of nearly 31 million (2009) and has a large concentration of Hui Chinese. The capital of the province is Lanzhou, located in the southeast part of Gansu. Gansu is abbreviated Gan or Long (陇/隴), and is also known as Long West or Long Right, in reference to the Long Mountain east of Gansu.

History

Gansu is a compound name first used in Song Dynasty China, of two Sui and Tang Dynasty prefectures (州): Gan (around Zhangye) and Su (around Jiuquan).

In prehistoric times, Gansu was host to a number of Neolithic cultures. The Dadiwan culture, from where numerous archaeologically significant artifacts have been excavated, flourished in the eastern end of Gansu from about 6000 BC to about 3000 BC [1]. The Majiayao culture (馬家窯文化) and part of the Qijia culture (齊家文化) also took root in Gansu from 3100 BC to 2700 BC and 2400 BC to 1900 BC respectively.

The Qin state (秦), later to become the founding state of the Chinese empire, grew out from the southeastern part of Gansu, specifically the Tianshui (天水) area. The Qin name itself is believed to have originated, in part, from the area [2][3]. Qin tombs and artifacts have been excavated from Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200 year old map of Guixian County [4].

In imperial times, Gansu was an important strategic outpost and communications link for the Chinese empire, as the Hexi corridor (河西走廊) runs along the "neck" of the province. The Han dynasty extended the Great Wall across this corridor, also building the strategic Yumenguan (Jade Gate Pass, near Dunhuang) and Yangguan (阳关) fort towns along it. Remains of the wall and the towns can be found there to this date. The Ming dynasty also built the Jiayuguan outpost in Gansu. To the west of Yumenguan and the Qilian Mountains, at the northwestern end of the province, the Yuezhi, Wusun, and other nomadic tribes dwelt (Shiji 123), occasionally figuring in regional imperial Chinese geopolitics.

After the fall of the Uyghur Empire, a Uyghur state was established in Gansu that lasted from 848 to 1036 AD. During that time, many of Gansu's residents converted to Islam.

Situated along the Silk Road, Gansu was an economically important province, and a cultural transmission path as well. Temples and Buddhist grottoes [5] such as those at Mogao Caves ('Caves of the Thousand Buddhas') and Maijishan Caves contain artistically and historically revealing murals.[6] An early form of paper inscribed with Chinese characters and dating to about 8 BC was discovered at the site of a Western Han garrison near the Yumen pass in August 2006 [7].

The province was also the origin of the Muslim Rebellion of 1862-77, which later spread to much of China and resulted in the deaths of upwards of twelve million Chinese Muslims[8] in addition to the decimation of Chinese Muslim culture in Yunnan province, where over one million Muslims were killed by Qing forces[9].

Deadliest earthquakes^
Rank Earthquake mag. Country Date Fatalities
1 "Shaanxi" 8 China January 23, 1556 830,000
2 "Tangshan" 7.8 China July 27, 1976 242,000
3 "Indian Ocean" 9.1 nr. Indonesia December 26, 2004 ~230,210
4 "Aleppo" 8.5 Syria October 11, 1138 230,000
5 "Haiyuan" 7.8 - 8.5 China December 16, 1920 200,000 - 240,000
"Damghan"  ? Iran December 22, 856 200,000

Its frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines have tended to slow its economic progress, until recently when based on its abundant mineral resources it has begun developing into a vital industrial center. An earthquake in Gansu at 8.6 on the Richter scale killed around 180,000 people in 1920, and another with a magnitude of 7.6 killed 70,000 in 1932.

Geography

Gansu province has an area of 454,000 km², and the majority of its land is more than 1 km above sea level. It lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Inner Mongolia, and the Loess Plateau, and borders Mongolia to the north-west. The Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province. The province contains the geographical center of China, marked by the Center of the County Monument at 103°27′7.5″E / 35.844694°N 103.452083°E / 35.844694; 103.452083 (Geographical centre of China) [3].

Part of the Gobi Desert is located in Gansu, as well as small parts of the Badain Jaran Desert and Tengger Desert.