Hunan^{[lower-alpha 1]} is an inland province of China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. Its capital and largest city is Changsha, which abuts the Xiang River. Hengyang, Zhuzhou, and Yueyang are among its most populous urban cities. With a population of just over 66 million as of 2020^[update] residing in an area of approximately 210,000 km² (81,000 sq mi), it is China's 7th most populous province, the fourth most populous among landlocked provinces, the second most populous in South Central China after Guangdong and the most populous province in Central China. It is the largest province in South-Central China, the fourth largest among landlocked provinces, and the 10th most extensive province by area.

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

Hunan 湖南
Province
Province of Hu'nan
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	湖南省 (Hú'nán Shěng)
• Abbreviation	HN / 湘 (pinyin: Xiāng)
(clockwise from top) Wulingyuan Fenghuang Old Town Yueyang Tower Tianmen Mountain Yuelu Academy
Map showing the location of Hu'nan Province
Coordinates: 28°06′46″N 112°59′00″E
Country	China
Named for	湖, hú – lake 南, nán – south "South of the lake"
Capital (and largest city)	Changsha
Divisions	14 prefectures, 122 counties, 1,933 townships (2018), 29,224 villages (2018)
Government
• Type	Province
• Body	Hunan Provincial People's Congress
• CCP Secretary	Shen Xiaoming
• Congress chairman	Shen Xiaoming
• Governor	Mao Weiming
• CPPCC chairman	Mao Wanchun
Area [1]
• Total	210,000 km2 (80,000 sq mi)
• Rank	10th
Highest elevation (Mount Lingfeng)	2,115.2 m (6,939.6 ft)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	66,444,864
• Rank	7th
• Density	320/km2 (820/sq mi)
• Rank	13th
Demonym	Hunanese
Demographics
• Ethnic composition	Han – 90% Tujia – 4% Miao – 3% Dong – 1% Yao – 1% Other peoples – 1%
• Languages and dialects	Chinese varieties: Xiang, Gan, Southwestern Mandarin, Xiangnan Tuhua, Waxiang, Hakka, Yue Non-Chinese languages: Xong, Tujia, Mien, Gam
GDP[3]
• Total	CN¥ 4.756 trillion US$ 707.1 billion
• Per capita	CN¥ 73,598 US$ 10,942
ISO 3166 code	CN-HN
HDI (2021)	0.762[4] high · 15th
Website	hunan.gov.cn enghunan.gov.cn

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Hu'nan's nominal GDP was US$724 billion (CNY 4.6 trillion) as of 2021, appearing in the world's top 20 largest sub-national economies, with its GDP (PPP) being over US$1.1 trillion.^[6][7] Hu'nan is the 9th-largest provincial economy of China, the fourth largest in South Central China, the third largest in Central China and the fourth largest among landlocked provinces. Its GDP (nominal) per capita exceeded US$10,900 (69,300 CNY), making it the third richest province in the South Central China region after Guangdong and Hubei.^[6] As of 2020, Hu'nan's GDP (nominal) reached 605 billion US dollars (CNY 4.18 trillion),^[8][9] exceeding that of Poland, with a GDP of US$596 billion and Thailand, with a GDP of US$501 billion, the 22nd and 25th largest in the world respectively.^[10]

The name Hu'nan literally means "south of the lake".^[11] The lake that is referred to is Dongting Lake, a lake in the northeast of the province. Vehicle license plates from Hu'nan are marked Xiāng (Chinese: 湘), after the Xiang River, which runs from south to north through Hu'nan and forms part of the largest drainage system for the province. The area of Hu'nan was under Chinese rule as far back as 350 BC. Hu'nan was the birthplace of communist revolutionary Mao Zedong,^[12] who became the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the founding father of the People's Republic of China. Hu'nan today is home to some ethnic minorities, including the Tujia and Miao, along with the Han Chinese, who make up a majority of the population. Varieties of Chinese spoken include Xiang, Gan and Southwestern Mandarin.

Wulingyuan was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.^[13] Changsha, the capital, is located in the eastern part of the province; it is now an important commercial, manufacturing and transportation centre.^[14] The busiest airports serve domestic and international flights for Hu'nan, including Changsha Huanghua International Airport, Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport and Changde Taohuayuan Airport.^[15] Hu'nan is the seat of the Yuelu Academy (later become Hu'nan University), which is one of the four major academies over the last 1000 years in ancient China.^[16] As of 2023, Hu'nan hosts 137 institutions of higher education, ranking fifth among all Chinese provinces .^[17] In 2017, two major cities in Hu'nan (Changsha and Xiangtan ) ranked in the top 500 cities in the world by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index.^[18]

This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2014)

Hu'nan's primeval forests were first occupied by the ancestors of the modern Miao, Tujia, Dong and Yao peoples. The province entered written Chinese history around 350 BC, when the province became part of the Zhou dynasty. After Qin conquered the Chu in 278 BC, the region came under the control of Qin, and then the Changsha Kingdom during the Han dynasty. At this time, and for hundreds of years thereafter, the province was a magnet for settlement of Han Chinese from the north, who displaced and assimilated the original indigenous inhabitants, cleared forests and began farming rice in the valleys and plains.^[19] The agricultural colonization of the lowlands was carried out in part by the Han people, which managed river dikes to protect farmland from floods.^[20] To this day, many of the small villages in Hu'nan are named after the Han families who settled there. Migration from the north was especially prevalent during the Eastern Jin dynasty, Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern and Southern dynasties periods, when the north was mostly ruled by non-Han ethnic groups (Five Barbarians) and in perpetual disorder.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Hu'nan was home to its own independent regime, Ma Chu.

Hu'nan and Hubei became a part of the province of Huguang until the Qing dynasty. Hu'nan province was created in 1664 from Huguang, renamed to its current name in 1723.

Hu'nan became an important communications center due to its position on the Yangzi River. It was an important centre of scholarly activity and Confucian thought, particularly in the Yuelu Academy in Changsha. It was also on the Imperial Highway constructed between northern and southern China. The land produced grain so abundantly that it fed many parts of China with its surpluses. The population continued to climb until, by the nineteenth century, Hu'nan became overcrowded and prone to peasant uprisings. Some of the uprisings, such as the ten-year Miao Rebellion of 1795–1806, were caused by ethnic tensions. The Taiping Rebellion began in the south in Guangxi Province in 1850. The rebellion spread into Hu'nan and then further eastward along the Yangzi River valley. Ultimately, it was a Hu'nanese army (Xiang Army) under Zeng Guofan who marched into Nanjing to put down the uprising in 1864.

In 1920, a famine raged throughout Hu'nan and killed an estimated 2 million Hu'nanese civilians.^[21] This sparked the Autumn Harvest Uprising of 1927. It was led by Hu'nanese native Mao Zedong, and established a short-lived Hu'nan Soviet in 1927. The Communists maintained a guerrilla army in the mountains along the Hu'nan-Jiangxi border until 1934. Under pressure from the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) forces, they began the Long March to bases in Shaanxi Province. After the departure of the Communists, the KMT army fought against the Japanese in the second Sino-Japanese war. They defended Changsha until it fell in 1944. Japan launched Operation Ichigo, a plan to control the railroad from Wuchang to Guangzhou (Yuehan Railway). Hu'nan was relatively unscathed by the civil war that followed the defeat of the Japanese in 1945. In 1949, the Communists returned once more as the Nationalists retreated southward.

In the 1950s General Wang Zhen coerced thousands of Hu'nanese women into sexual servitude at PLA units in Xinjiang.^[22]

As Mao Zedong's home province, Hu'nan supported the Cultural Revolution of 1966–1976.^{[citation needed]} However, it was slower than most provinces in adopting the reforms implemented by Deng Xiaoping in the years that followed Mao's death in 1976.

In addition to CCP Chairman Mao Zedong, a number of other first-generation communist leaders were also from Hu'nan: Chinese President Liu Shaoqi; CCP Secretary-generals Ren Bishi and Hu Yaobang; Marshals Peng Dehuai, He Long, and Luo Ronghuan; Wang Zhen, one of the Eight Elders; Xiang Jingyu, the first female member of the CCP's central committee; Senior General Huang Kecheng; and veteran diplomat Lin Boqu. An example of a more recent leader from Hu'nan is former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji.

Hu'nan is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, about half way along its length, situated between 108° 47'–114° 16' east longitude and 24° 37'–30° 08' north latitude. Hu'nan covers an area of 211,800 square kilometres (81,800 square miles), making it the 10th largest provincial-level division. The east, south and west sides of the province are surrounded by mountains and hills, such as the Wuling Mountains to the northwest, the Xuefeng Mountains to the west, the Nanling Mountains to the south, and the Luoxiao Mountains to the east. Mountains and hills occupy more than 80% of the province, and plains less than 20%. At 2115.2 meters above sea level, the highest point in Hu'nan province is Lingfeng (酃峰).^[23][24][25]

The Xiang, the Zi, the Yuan and the Lishui Rivers converge on the Yangtze River at Lake Dongting in the north of Hu'nan. The center and northern parts are somewhat low and a U-shaped basin, open in the north and with Lake Dongting as its center. Most of Hu'nan lies in the basins of four major tributaries of the Yangtze River.

Lake Dongting is the largest lake in the province and the second largest freshwater lake of China.

The Xiaoxiang area and Lake Dongting figure prominently in Chinese poetry and paintings, particularly during the Song dynasty when they were associated with officials who had been unjustly dismissed.^[26]

Changsha (which means "long sands") was an active ceramics district during the Tang dynasty, its tea bowls, ewers and other products mass-produced and shipped to China's coastal cities for export abroad. An Arab dhow dated to the 830s and today known as the Belitung Shipwreck was discovered off the small island of Belitung, Indonesia with more than 60,000 pieces in its cargo.^{[citation needed]} The salvaged cargo is today housed in nearby Singapore.

Hu'nan's climate is subtropical, and, under the Köppen climate classification, is classified as being humid subtropical (Köppen Cfa), with short, cool, damp winters, very hot and humid summers, and plenty of rainfall. January temperatures average 3 to 8 °C (37 to 46 °F) while July temperatures average around 27 to 30 °C (81 to 86 °F). Average annual precipitation is 1,200 to 1,700 millimetres (47 to 67 in). The Furongian Epoch in the Cambrian Period of geological time is named for Hu'nan; Furong (芙蓉) means "lotus" in Mandarin and refers to Hu'nan which is known as the "lotus state".^[27]

Hu'nan is divided into fourteen prefecture-level divisions: thirteen prefecture-level cities and an autonomous prefecture:

The fourteen prefecture-level divisions of Hu'nan are subdivided into 122 county-level divisions (35 districts, 17 county-level cities, 63 counties, 7 autonomous counties). Those are in turn divided into 2587 township-level divisions (1098 towns, 1158 townships, 98 ethnic townships, 225 subdistricts, and eight district public offices). At the year end of 2017, the total population is 68.6 million.

The politics of Hu'nan is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.

The Governor of Hu'nan is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Hu'nan. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Hu'nan Chinese Communist Party Provincial Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Hu'nan CCP Party Chief".

As of the mid-19th century, Hu'nan exported rhubarb, musk, honey, tobacco, hemp, and birds.^[34] The Lake Dongting area is an important center of ramie production, and Hu'nan is also an important center of tea cultivation. Aside from agricultural products, in recent years Hu'nan has grown to become an important center for steel, machinery and electronics production, especially as China's manufacturing sector moves away from coastal provinces such as Guangdong and Zhejiang.^[35]

The Lengshuijiang area is noted for its stibnite mines, and is one of the major centers of antimony extraction in China. ^{[citation needed]}

Hu'nan is also well known for a few global makers of construction equipment such as concrete pumps, cranes, etc. These companies include Sany Group, Zoomlion and Sunward. Sany is one of the world's major players. The city of Liuyang is the world's top center for manufacturing fireworks.^[36]

Hu'nan is the 9th-largest provincial economy of China, the third largest in the Central China region after Henan and Hubei, the fourth largest in the South Central China region after Guangdong, Henan and Hubei and the fourth largest among inland provinces after Henan, Sichuan and Hubei.^[6] As of 2021, Hu'nan's nominal GDP was US$724 billion (CNY 4.6 trillion), appearing in the world's top 20 largest sub-national economies with its GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) being over US$1.1 trillion,^[6][7] and its GDP (nominal) per capita exceeded US$10,900 (69,300 CNY), making it the 2nd richest in the Central China region after Hubei and the 3rd richest in South Central China region after Guangdong and Hubei.^[6]

As of 2020, Hu'nan's GDP (nominal) was US$605 billion,^[8][9] making it larger than the economies of Poland (the 22nd biggest in the world), Thailand (the 2nd largest in ASEAN), and Nigeria (the largest in Africa).^[10]

As of the 2000 census, the population of Hu'nan is 64,400,700 consisting of forty-one ethnic groups. Its population grew 6.17% (3,742,700) from its 1990 levels. According to the census, 89.79% (57,540,000) identified themselves as Han Chinese and 10.21% (6,575,300) as minority groups. The minority groups are Tujia, Miao, Dong, Yao, Bai, Hui, Zhuang, Uyghurs and so on.

In Hu'nan, ethnic minority languages are spoken in the following prefectures.

• Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture: Qo Xiong language, Tujia language
• Huaihua: Qo Xiong language, Dong language, Hm Nai language, Hmu language
• Shaoyang: Maojia language, Hm Nai language, Pa-Hng language, Badong Yao language
• Yongzhou: Mien language, Biao Min language
• Chenzhou: Dzao Min language

Being the educational and political in the late Qing Era, Hu'nan became the center of revolution and reformation, and it was the birthplace of many famous Chinese scholars, politicians, and generals, including the most influential and controversial figure of China in the 20th century, Mao Zedong.

• Zhou Dunyi (1017—1073), Chinese scholar and philosopher
• Wang Fuzhi (1619–1692), Chinese essayist, historian, and philosopher of the late Ming, early Qing dynasties.
• Zeng Guofan (1811–1872)
• Zuo Zongtang (1812–1885), or General Tso, Chinese statesman and military leader of the late Qing dynasty.
• Taqibu (1816–1855)
• Huang Xing (1874–1916)
• Cai E (1882–1916), Chinese revolutionary leader, General and Governor of Yunnan (1911-1913)
• Jiang Xiaowan (?–1922), interpreter
• Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
• He Long (1896–1969)
• Peng Dehuai (1898–1974)
• Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969)
• Ma Ying-jeou (born 1950)
• Yuet-ching Lee (1918–1997), Hong Kong actress^{[citation needed]}
• Ted Hui (born 1982), Hong Kong politician^{[citation needed]}
• Martin Cao (born 1993), racing driver
• Zhou Chengzhou (born 1982), Chinese film director and artist

Hu'nan's culture industry generated 87 billion yuan (US$11.76 billion) in economic value in 2007,^[63] and is major contributor to the province's economic growth. The industry accounts for 7.5 percent of the region's GDP. ^{[citation needed]}

Located in the south central part of the Chinese mainland, Hu'nan has long been known for its natural environment. It is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River on the north. For thousands of years, the region has been a major center of agriculture, growing rice, tea, and oranges. China's first all glass suspension bridge was also opened in Hu'nan, in Shiniuzhai National Geological Park.^[65]

• Wulingyuan is a World Heritage Site and a 5A Scenic Area. Located in south-central Hu'nan, Wulingyuan is noted for its thousands of quartzite sandstone pillars, caves, and waterfalls. The area also contains Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.
• Shaoshan County, known for being the birthplace of Mao Zedong
• Yueyang Tower, on the shores of Lake Dongting, was built in the Han and Jin dynasties, and has existed in its current state since the Qing Dynasty. Alongside the Pavilion of Prince Teng and Yellow Crane Tower, it is one of the Three Great Towers of Jiangnan.
• Mount Heng, in Hengyang, is one of the Five Great Mountains of China, and is home to the largest temple in southern China.
• Fenghuang County, in Xiangxi Prefecture, has been placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List for its ancient town. Fenghuang is known for its incorporation of mountain features and water flow into city design, and the ancient syncretism between the local Han and Miao cultures.^[66]

As of 2023, Hu'nan hosts 137 institutions of higher education, ranking fifth together with Sichuan (137) among all Chinese provinces after Jiangsu (168), Henan (168), Guangdong (162), and Shandong (156).^[67][68] Hu'nan is also the seat of 12 adult higher education institutions.^[69] Two major cities in Hu'nan (Changsha and Xiangtan) were ranked in the top 500 cities in the world by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index in 2017.^[18] There are three national key universities under Project 985 (Hu'nan University, Central South University and the National University of Defense Technology) in Hu'nan, the third highest after Beijing and Shanghai. Hu'nan Normal University in Changsha is the key construction university of the national 211 Project, and Xiangtan University in Xiangtan is a key university jointly built by Hu'nan Province and the Ministry of Education and a member of national Project 111. These five national key universities are included in the Double First-Class Construction of Hu'nan Province.

Hu'nan University and Central South University are the only two Project 985 universities in Changsha, Hu'nan to appear in the world's top 200 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking.^[70][71] Hu'nan Normal University, the National University of Defense and Technology and Changsha University of Science and Technology located in Changsha, were ranked in the world's top 701 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities.^[71]

Hu'nan Agricultural University in Changsha, the University of South China in Hengyang, Hu'nan University of Technology in Zhuzhou and Xiangtan University in Xiangtan were ranked in the top 801-900 globally by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.^{[72][73][74][75]} Hu'nan University of Science and Technology in Xiangtan and Central South University of Forestry and Technology in Changsha were ranked number 988 and number 1429 respectively in the 2022 Best Global Universities by the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking.^[70][76] As of 2023, Hu'nan University of Chinese Medicine in Changsha ranked the best in the Central China region and 26th nationwide among Chinese Medical Universities.^[77]

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Professional sports teams in Hu'nan include:

• Chinese Football Association League One
  • Hu'nan Billows F.C.

• Major national historical and cultural sites in Hu'nan
• Xiaoxiang, the "lakes and rivers" region of south-central China
• State of Chu, ancient Chinese state partly in modern-day Hu'nan
• Hu'nanese people