Guizhou^{[lower-alpha 1]} is an inland province in Southwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to the south, Yunnan to the west, Sichuan to the northwest, the municipality of Chongqing to the north, and Hunan to the east. The population of Guizhou stands at 38.5 million, ranking 18th among the provinces in China.

Quick Facts 贵州, Name transcription(s) ...

Guizhou 贵州
Province
Province of Guizhou
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	贵州省 (Guìzhōu Shěng)
• Abbreviation	GZ / 黔 or 贵 (pinyin: Qián or Guì)
(clockwise from top) Huangguoshu Waterfall Fanjingshan Libo Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope Guiyang Zhaoxing
Map showing the location of Guizhou Province
Coordinates: 26°50′N 106°50′E
Country	China
Named for	Gui - Gui Mountains zhou (prefecture)
Capital	Guiyang
Largest city	Zunyi
Divisions	9 prefectures, 88 counties, 1539 townships
Government
• Type	Province
• Body	Guizhou Provincial People's Congress
• CPC Secretary	Xu Lin
• Congress chairman	Xu Lin
• Governor	Li Bingjun
• CPPCC chairman	Zhao Yongqing
Area [1]
• Total	176,167 km2 (68,018 sq mi)
• Rank	16th
Highest elevation (Jiucaiping)	2,900 m (9,500 ft)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	38,562,148
• Rank	17th
• Density	220/km2 (570/sq mi)
• Rank	18th
Demographics
• Ethnic composition	Han - 62% Miao - 12% Buyei - 8% Dong - 5% Tujia - 4% Yi - 2% Undistinguished - 2% Gelao - 2% Sui - 1%
• Languages and dialects	Southwestern Mandarin
GDP[3]
• Total	CN¥ 1.78 trillion US$ 258 billion
• Per capita	CN¥ 52,321 US$ 7,779
ISO 3166 code	CN-GZ
HDI (2019)	0.685[4] medium · 30th
Website	http://www.gzgov.gov.cn (Simplified Chinese)

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The Dian Kingdom, which inhabited the present-day area of Guizhou, was annexed by the Han dynasty in 106 BC.^[6] Guizhou was formally made a province in 1413 during the Ming dynasty. After the overthrow of the Qing in 1911 and following the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Communist Party took refuge in Guizhou during the Long March between 1934 and 1935.^[7] After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong promoted the relocation of heavy industry into inland provinces such as Guizhou, to better protect them from potential foreign attacks.^{[citation needed]}

Guizhou is rich in natural, cultural and environmental resources. Its natural industry includes timber and forestry, and the energy and mining industries constitute an important part of its economy. Notwithstanding, Guizhou is considered a relatively undeveloped province, with the fourth-lowest GDP per capita in China as of 2020. However, it is also one of China's fastest-growing economies.^[8] The Chinese government is looking to develop Guizhou as a data hub.^[9][10]

Guizhou is a mountainous province, with its higher altitudes in the west and centre. It lies at the eastern end of the Yungui Plateau. Demographically, it is one of China's most diverse provinces. Minority groups account for more than 37% of the population, including sizable populations of the Miao, Bouyei, Dong, Tujia and Yi peoples, all of whom speak languages distinct from Chinese. The main language spoken in Guizhou is Southwestern Mandarin, a variety of Mandarin.

The area was first organized as an administrative region of a Chinese empire under the Tang, when it was named Juzhou (矩州), pronounced Kjú-jyuw in the Middle Chinese of the period.^[11] During the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, the character 矩 (ju, "carpenter's square") was changed to the more refined 貴 (gui, "precious or expensive").^[11] The region formally became a province in 1413, with an eponymous capital then also called "Guizhou" but now known as Guiyang.^[11]

Evidence of settlement by humans during the Middle Palaeolithic is indicated by stone artefacts, including Levallois pieces, found during archaeological excavations at Guanyindong Cave. These artefacts have been dated to approximately 170,000–80,000 years ago using optically stimulated luminescence methods.^[12]

From around 1046 BC to the emergence of the State of Qin, northwest Guizhou was part of the State of Shu.^[7] During the Warring States period, the Chinese state of Chu conquered the area, and control later passed to the Dian Kingdom. During the Chinese Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), to which the Dian was tributary, Guizhou was home to the Yelang collection of tribes, which largely governed themselves before the Han consolidated control in the southwest and established the Lingnan province.^[7] During the Three Kingdoms period, parts of Guizhou were governed by the Shu Han state based in Sichuan, followed by Cao Wei (220–266) and the Jin dynasty (266–420).^[7]

During the 8th and 9th centuries in the Tang dynasty, Chinese soldiers moved into Guizhou (Kweichow) and married native women. Their descendants are known as Lǎohànrén (老汉人), in contrast to new Chinese who populated Guizhou at later times. They still speak an archaic dialect.^[13] Many immigrants to Guizhou were descended from these soldiers in garrisons who married these pre-Chinese women.^[14]

Kublai Khan and Möngke Khan conquered the Chinese southwest in the process of defeating the Song during the Mongol invasion of China, and the newly established Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) saw the importation of Chinese Muslim administrators and settlers from Bukhara in Central Asia.^[7]

It was during the following Ming dynasty, which was once again led by Han Chinese, that Guizhou was formally made a province in 1413. The Ming established many garrisons in Guizhou from which to pacify the Yao and Miao minorities during the Miao Rebellions.^[7] Chinese-style agriculture flourished with the expertise of farmers from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou. Wu Sangui was responsible for the ousting the Ming in Guizhou and Yunnan during the Manchu conquest of China. During the governorship-general of the Qing dynasty's nobleman Ortai, the tusi system of indirect governance of the southwest was abolished, prompting rebellions from disenfranchised chieftains and the further centralization of government. After the Second Opium War, criminal triads set up shop in Guangxi and Guizhou to sell British opium. For a time, Taiping Rebels took control of Guizhou, but they were ultimately suppressed by the Qing.^[7] Concurrently, Han Chinese soldiers moved into the Taijiang region of Guizhou, married Miao women, and their children were brought up as Miao.^[15][16]

More unsuccessful Miao rebellions occurred during the Qing, in 1735, from 1795–1806^[17] and from 1854–1873.^[18] After the overthrow of the Qing in 1911 and following Chinese Civil War, the Communists took refuge in Guizhou during the Long March (1934–1935).^[7] While the province was formally ruled by the warlord Wang Jialie, the Zunyi Conference in Guizhou established Mao Zedong as the leader of the Communist Party. As the Second Sino-Japanese War pushed China's Nationalist Government to its southwest base of Chongqing, transportation infrastructure improved as Guizhou was linked with the Burma Road.^[19] After the end of the War, a 1949 Revolution swept Mao into power, who promoted the relocation of heavy industry into inland provinces such as Guizhou, to better protect them from Soviet and American attacks. The 1957 influenza pandemic started in Guizhou and killed a million people around the world. After the Chinese economic reform began in 1978, geographical factors led Guizhou to become the poorest province in China, with a GDP growth average of 9 percent from 1978 to 1993.^[19]

Guizhou is a mountainous province, although its higher altitudes are in the west and centre. It lies at the eastern end of the Yungui Plateau.^[20] At 2,900 m (9,514 ft) above sea level, Jiucaiping is Guizhou's highest point.^[21]

Guizhou has a humid subtropical climate. There are few seasonal changes. Its annual average temperature is roughly 10 to 20 °C, with January temperatures ranging from 1 to 10 °C and July temperatures ranging from 17 to 28 °C. ^{[citation needed]}

Like in China's other southwest provinces, rural areas of Guizhou suffered severe drought during spring 2010. Beginning on 3 April 2010, China's premier Wen Jiabao went on a three-day inspection tour in the southwest drought-affected province of Guizhou, where he met villagers and called on agricultural scientists to develop drought-resistant technologies for the area.^[22]

Because of its lesser development compared to many other provinces in China, Guizhou's environment is well-preserved.^[23]: 61 As of at least 2023, its environment and favorable climate have been assets in attracting the new, increasingly digital, economy.^[23]: 61

Major scientific research facilities in Guizhou include:

• The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the world's largest radio telescope
• The Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Guizhou is divided into nine prefecture-level divisions: six prefecture-level cities and three autonomous prefectures:

These nine prefecture-level divisions are in turn subdivided into 88 county-level divisions (14 districts, 7 county-level cities, 55 counties, and 11 autonomous counties and one special district).

As of the mid-19th century, Guizhou exported mercury, gold, iron, lead, tobacco, incense and drugs.^[33]

Its natural industry includes timber and forestry.^[34] Guizhou is also the third largest producer of tobacco in China, and home to the well-known brand Guizhou Tobacco.^[35] Other important industries in the province include energy (electricity generation) - a large portion of which is exported to Guangdong and other provinces^[35] - and mining, especially in coal, limestone, arsenic, gypsum, and oil shale.^[34] Guizhou's total output of coal was 118 million tons in 2008, a 7% growth from the previous year.^[36] Guizhou's export of power to Guangdong equaled 12% of Guangdong's total power consumption. Over the next 5 years Guizhou hopes to increase this by as much as 50%.^[37]

Historically, Guizhou was a poorer province with lagging development.^[23]: 61 The digital economy has grown significantly since 2015 and as of at least 2023 continues to develop Guizhou's growing reputation as a center for big data in China.^[23]: 61

In 2017, Sun Zhigang, the governor of Guizhou, announced plans to build 10,000 kilometres (6,210 mi) of highways, 600 kilometres (370 mi) of inland waterways, 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of high-speed rail lines, and 17 airports in three years, in an effort to boost tourism in the province.^[38] Guizhou has continued to develop transportation infrastructure (as well as other infrastructure such as electric, water, and broadband infrastructure) to support the growing big data-related sections of the economy.^[23]: 61

In 1832, the population was estimated at five million.^[33]

Guizhou is demographically one of China's most diverse provinces. Minority groups account for more than 37% of the population and they include Miao (including Gha-Mu and A-Hmao), Yao, Yi, Qiang, Dong, Zhuang, Bouyei, Bai, Tujia, Gelao and Sui. 55.5% of the province area is designated as autonomous regions for ethnic minorities. Guizhou is the province with the highest fertility rate in China, standing at 2.19 (urban: 1.31; rural: 2.42).^[50]

Guizhou is the home of the well-known Chinese liquor Moutai,^[52] as well as Lao Gan Ma.

The province has many covered bridges, called Wind and Rain Bridges. These were built by the Dong people.^{[citation needed]}

The southeastern corner of the province is known for its unique Dong minority culture. Towns such as Rongjiang, Liping, Diping and Zhaoxing are scattered amongst the hills along the border with Guangxi.^{[citation needed]}

• Guizhou University (Guiyang)
• Guizhou Normal University (Guiyang)
• Guiyang Medical University (Guiyang)
• Guizhou Nationalities University (Guiyang)
• Guizhou Institute of Technology (Guiyang)
• Zunyi Medical College (Zunyi)
• Moutai University (Zunyi)
• Tongren University（Tongren）
• Kaili University(Kaili)

• Guizhou Daily

• Shi Jinmo (1881–1969), founder of medical colleges
• Sun Yafang (1955-), engineer, business executive and former Chairwoman of Huawei from 1999 to 2018
• Chuan He (1972-), biologist
• Huang Xiaoyun (1998-), singer and actress
• Zhou Shen (1992-), singer

• Major national historical and cultural sites in Guizhou