Ethnicity:
There are 59.484 million Han people, accounting for 99.37 percent of the total population. People of other ethnic groups are 376,000, accounting for 0.63 percent of the total population. In addition to the main minority ethnic group of the Hui, there are 52 other ethnic groups, including the Man, Zhuang and She.

Literacy:
There were 73 institutes of higher learning, 521 secondary technical schools, 3,820 middle schools, and 22328 primary schools with a total amount of 11.73 million students by the end of 2003.

Topography:
Anhui has a complex topography. With Yangtze River and Huaihe River running through the province from west to east, Anhui is divided into three regions, including Huaibei (North of Huaihe), Jianghuai (Between Yangtze and Huaihe), and Jiangnan (South of Yangtze). The North of Huaihe River, as part of the North China Plain, is a vast expanse of flatland. The middle area between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River is a chain of undulating hills. The lands by the two sides of the Yangtze River and around the Chaohu Lake are low and flat, belonging to the well-known Middle-Lower Yangtze River Plain. The south is mainly covered by hills.
Generally, the province can be divided into five topographical zones: plain north of Huaihe River, hilly land between the Huaihe and Yangtze, Dabieshan mountainous area of West Anhui, plains along the Yangtze River and the hilly area in southern Anhui. Located in the transition region of the warm-temperate zone and subtropical zone, the climate of Anhui is warm and humid with distinctive seasons. The province¡¯s annual rainfall differs greatly and its weather is very changeful, with frequent spring droughts and summer floods.

Mountains: Dabie Ranges in the central west; in the south, Mt. Huangshan and Mt. Jiuhuashan

Rivers: the Yangtze River and Huaihe River

Lakes: Chaohu Lake in the center; Longgan and Pohu Lakes in the southwest; Nanyi Lake in the east

Climate:
The annual average temperature of Anhui is between 14¡ãC to 17¡ãC centigrade. The average annual sunshine hours are 1,800-2,500. The average frost-free period is 200 to 250 days. The annual average rainfalls are 800 to 1,800 millimeters.

Average Temperature: -1C to 4C in January, 27C to 29C in July

Annual Average Rainfall: 700 - 800 mm in the north of the Huaihe River, 800 - 1,700 mm in the mountain areas

History
Anhui was the first region of southern China settled by Han Chinese, who moved south in the 3rd century BC. Although rich in agricultural potential, Anhui was economically backward in the past because of frequent floods and droughts. History records 8,614 natural disasters from AD 960 to 1949, including flood, drought, insects, wind, frost, and hail.

Today Anhui is one of the most important agricultural provinces in China. The major staple crops are rice, wheat, beans, maize, sorghum and sweet potatoes. Cash crops include cotton, tobacco, peanuts, sesame, rapeseed, tea, hemp, silk, fruits, tung oil, and raw lacquer.

Anhui's industries have been built almost from scratch since the Communist revolution. From 1949 to 1980, the government reported an annual average growth in industrial output of 12.2 percent per year. Despite this growth, the industial base is considered weak because of the predominance of small-scale enterprises. The long-term plans for Anhui's industries emphasize development based on its mineral resources, along the lines of the Ruhr Valley in Germany.

Ironically, considering Anhui residents' reputation (see Folklore below), Time magazine on April 11, 1994 reported that a 1993 anti-corruption campaign in Anhui found over 300,000 civil servants to be guilty of stealing about US$140 million in public funds. It required 10,000 inspectors to discover the wrong-doers, who used the money for such things as building private housing and paying for childrens' school fees. More than 90% of the misappropriated funds were returned, and many of the perpetrators returned to their jobs afterwards.

Culture
The cultural traits of Anhui date back to the time of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), and are said to be marked by conservatism of language and art forms.

The Huizhou people of the mountains of southern Anhui are known for their commercial and clan traditions, and some linguists consider the Huizhou dialect to be a separate Chinese language, distinct from the Mandarin and Wu language spoken to the north and south.

Local specialties and handicrafts of the province include Gujinggong, Mingguang, and Suixi liquors, Xiaoxian wine, the "four treasures" of scholars (Anhui ink sticks, Shexian ink slabs, Xuan paper and Xuan brushes), as well as the wrought-iron pictures of Wuhu.

Two popular performing arts in Anhui are Huangmei Opera and Fengyang Flower Drum Opera, which originated in the folk traditions of the towns of Huangmei, Hubei Province, and Fengyang, Anhui Province, respectively.

Food
One of the three famous cuisines of Anhui Province is called Wannan. Its dishes are stewed or braised to exact temperatures, and are described as being "greasy but generous in portions." One of the noted dishes is Salted Fresh Trout.

Folklore
The people of Anhui are considered to be very honest, and also very smart.

The legendary Fenghuang (Chinese pheonix bird) is said to have made its most recent appearance in Anhui, in 1368 at the grave of the father of Hong Wu, founder of the Ming Dynasty.

Natural resources:
Covering a total area of 4.33-million-hectare fertile farmland, Anhui is suitable for the growth of various crops.

Transportation
Railways
The railways in operation total 3,080 kilometers. The Beijing-Kowloon Railway runs through the province, with Fuyang and Hefei serving as its major transition hubs. Anhui has become one of the railway transport centers in central China. The year 2003 saw the completion of the Hefei-Xi¡¯an section of the Nanjing-Xi¡¯an Railway line.

Highways
A total of 39,264 kilometers of highways are open to traffic. The Hefei-Nanjing-Shanghai expressway is a thoroughfare linking up cities in the Yangtze River Delta. In 2003, the northern section of the Hefei-Xuzhou Expressway was completed and open to traffic.

Waterways
The four cities on the Yangtze River including Wuhu, Maanshan, Tongling and Anqing, have all established nationally first-class ports. Wuhu and Tongling ports have been approved to open to foreign vessels. From these Anhui river ports, ships can go to Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

Airports
The province has six airports, including Hefei, Huangshan, Fuyang, Wuhu, Anqing, and Bengbu, from where flights go to 29 large and medium-sized cities in China. From Hefei and Huangshan, one can take a direct flight to Hong Kong.

Telecommunications
In 2003, the post and telecommunication sector of the province did a turnover of 15.73 billion yuan, up 9.7 percent from the previous year. The sum includes 13.85 billion yuan from the telecommunication service and 1.88 billion yuan from the postal service. By the end of 2003, the number of fixed-line telephone subscribers had reached 8.985 million, of which 3.815 million were urban subscribers (up 1.4 percent) and 5.17 million were rural subscribers (up 24.3 percent). Meanwhile the number of mobile phone subscribers had reached 6.97 million.

There were 27.8 telephones to every one hundred people, up 5.9 percentage points on the year before.

The number of Internet users had climbed to 1.486 million.