Meaning of the name
"River South", from its position lying (mostly) to the south of the Yellow River (Huang He).

Geographical Location:
Henan Province is located in eastern central China, on the plain between the Yellow and Huaihe rivers. As most part of the province lies to the south of the Yellow River, which runs for over 700 km through its territory, it was given the name Henan (River South). Because Henan was called Yuzhou and considered as the center of China more than 2,000 years ago, the province is called Yu for short, and also referred to as Zhongzhou (Central Prefecture) and Zhongyuan (Central Plain). Neighboring Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hubei, Anhui and Shandong provinces, Henan covers an area of 167,000 sq km.

Capital: Zhengzhou

Major Cities: Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Pingdingshan, Xinxiang, Anyang, Nanyang

Neighboring Areas: Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei provinces

Attractions in Henan

Population:
Henan is one of the most populous provinces in China. According to the statistics made in the end of 2000, its total population is 95.55 million, with 21.47 million or 23.2 percent urban residents and 71.09 million or 76.8 percent of people living in rural areas. Males make up for 51.59 percent of its population and the female, 48.41 percent.

Population growth rate:
The natural population growth in Henan Province in 2001 was 7 per thousand.

Ethnicity:
There are 51 ethnic groups living in Henan Province, including the Han, Hui, Mongolian, Manchu, Zhuang, Miao, Tibetan, Uygur, Yi, Korean, Tujia, and Bai. The Han people make up 98.8 percent of the population, and the ethnic minorities, 1.2 percent.

Culture
Henan has a distinctive operatic form called Yu Ju Opera.

Famous people born in Henan Province include:

• Hui Shi (380 BC - ?), philosopher.
• Yuan Ji (210-263), poet.
• Du Fu (712-770), considered considered the greatest Chinese poet of all time.
• Han Yu, (768-824), prose writer, poet, and proponent of New-Confucianism.
• Li Shangyin (813-858), poet.
• Cheng Hao (1032-1085) and brother Cheng Yi (1033-1107), Neo-Confucian philosophers.
• Li Tang (c.1080-c.1130), painter.
• Feng Youlan (1895-1990), philosopher.

Literacy:
There are 41,404 primary schools, with 11.306 million pupils at school; 5,444 junior high schools, with 5.08 million students at school; 688 high schools with 947,300 students; and 52 colleges and universities with 369,100 students. The number of teachers and staff members at school is 1.06 million. Twenty-two institutes have been entitled to grant graduate degrees, and there are 14 tutorial units for doctorial studies, and 198 for master degree studies. The total number of graduate students at school is 2,392.

The students and teachers and staff members make up 27 percent of Henan¡¯s population. The enrollment rate of junior high schools is 98.05 percent, and 87 percent of the school-age population can receive nine-year compulsory education, a percentage higher than the average figure of the country.

Elevation extremes:
Henan Province is in the transitional area between the second and third steps of China¡¯s four-step terrain rising from east to west, with rolling mountains over 1,000 meters above sea level in its western part and plain area of 100 meters or lower in its east. Laoyacha in Lingbao City, 2413.8 meters above sea level, is the highest peak in Henan. The province¡¯s lowest point, 23.2 meters, is found at the place where the Huaihe River leaves the province.

High in the west and low in the east, even in the north and concave in the south, Henan Province is surrounded by four mountain ranges, the Taihang, Funiu, Tongbai and Dabie, which stand in its north, west and south, leaving subsidence basins here and there. In its middle and eastern parts there is a vast fluvial plain created by the Yellow, Huaihe and Haihe rivers. Mountainous regions comprise 44.3 percent of its total area, and the plains, 55.7 percent. Four rivers run across Henan, the Yellow River, Huaihe River, Weihe River and Hanshui River, with the Huaihe River valley covering up 53 percent of the province.

Located between the northern sub-tropical zone and warm temperate zone, Henan Province has distinctive four seasons with complicated weather conditions characterized with a hot and rainy summer. Southern Henan is in the northern sub-tropical zone. The province¡¯s average temperature of the year is 13~15 degrees centigrade; the average rainfall is 1120~570 mm; and its frost-free period lasts 308~275 days.

Mountains: Funiu, Waifang, Xiong'er, Xiaoshan Mountains in the west; southern foot of the Taihang Range in the north; Tongbai and Dabie Mountains in the south

Rivers: Yellow River and Huaihe River

Climatic Features: spans the warm-temperate/ semi-humid and subtropical/ humid climates; dry, windy winters and springs; hot, rainy summers; strong sunlight in autumn

Average Temperature: -30C to 3C in January, 24C to 29C in July

Annual Average Rainfall: 500 - 900 mm; high precipitation in the southern and northern mountains; 50 percent of the rainfalls in the summer

Natural Resources:
Henan has water reserves of 4.84 million kw, of which 3.23 million kw can be explored. By the end of 2000, there were 2,394 reservoirs in the province, and 4.6 million hectares of land were irrigated.

Of the more than 150 kinds of minerals found on earth, 121 are available in Henan, of which, the reserves of 78 kinds have been made clear; 61 kinds have been mined and utilized. In term of reservation, 48 kinds of Henan¡¯s minerals are listed among the top 10 of the country, of which molybdenum, blue asbestos, grit stone, natural alkali, pearlite, sapper and andalusite are listed as No. I, and bauxite, natural hone, and limestone for producing cement are assessed as No. 2. Other minerals like wolfram, cesium, coal, petroleum, natural gas, nickel, gold and marble also lead the nation in reserve.

Henan has 197 families and 3,830 species of higher plants, and 418 kinds of animals. It¡¯s an important producer of the country¡¯s wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco leaves and oil plants.

Tourist Resources
As one of the major birthplaces of the Chinese civilization, Henan has several epoch-making archeological discoveries, including the Peiligang Culture Site dating back 7,000 years, Yanshao Culture Site of some 6,000 years ago, and Dahe Culture Site of more than 5,000 years ago. In ancient China, more than 20 dynasties established their capitals in Henan. Three of China¡¯s seven great ancient capitals are located in Henan: Anyang of the Shang Dynasty, Luoyang of nine dynasties and Kaifeng of seven dynasties. Three of ancient China¡¯s four great inventions, the compass, paper-making and gunpowder, were made in Henan. The province numbers first in the whole country in terms of underground cultural relics, and the second in existing cultural relics on the ground. The Yellow River, with numerous ancient relics and scenic attractions, also provides a rich tourist resource to Henan.

Energy:
A major coal production base of China, Henan has 65 colliery enterprises, which produce 100 million tons of coal a year, making Henan rank the second in the country. Henan is one of the three thermal power bases in the country. Up to the end of 2000, it had an installed generating capacity of 14.77 million kwh, ranking the 6th among all provinces, and its total annual electricity generation of 65.8 billion kwh won it the position of the 5th in the country. The key water-conservative project at Xiaolangdi on the Yellow River, built with a loan from the World Bank, has a total installed capacity of 1.8 million kw. It is expected to generate 5.1 billion kwh of electricity annually after its completion. With considerable reserves of petroleum and natural gas, Henan Province possesses Zhongyuan Oil Fields and Henan Oil Fields, which produced 5.62 million tons of crude oil and 1.495 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2000. It is the 5th largest petroleum and natural gas producer in China.

Environment and current issues:
Thirteen of Henan¡¯s cities have met the national hygiene standard. Major enterprises causing industrial pollution in the Yellow and Huaihe rivers have basically reached the standard for polluted water discharge control. Nineteen nature reserves have been established on 1.36 percent of the province¡¯s land. The forest coverage rate in Henan is 19.83 percent, and 92 counties in the plain and semi-plain areas have reached the afforestation standard, making Henan No. I in the nation in this respect.

Transportation
Railways:
The operating railways in Henan total 2,148.3 km, 90 percent of which are double-tracked.

A major hub of China¡¯s inland transportation, Henan is crisscrossed with trunk railways such as Beijing-Guangzhou, Longhai (from Lianyugang in Jiangsu to Xinjiang), Beijing-Kowloon, and the newly opened transcontinental line from Lianyungang in China to Rotterdam, Holland. The provincial capital Zhengzhou is at the juncture of the two major trunk railways of Beijing-Guangzhou and Longhai; it is also the biggest relay station of both passengers and freight at the eastern part of the European-Asian transcontinental line. The Zhengzhou Northern Railway Station is the largest freight marshalling station in Asia, and its relaying and processing capacity has reached the world¡¯s top level. Goods to be exported by train can have the customs inspection in Zhengzhou before heading abroad. The Zhengzhou Eastern Railway Station is one of the biggest container relay stations in China, which is linked with five international-container transportation channels through the harbors in Shanghai, Kowloon, Lianyungang, Tianjin and Qingdao

Highways:
Henan has a well-developed highway network, with nine state highways -- five from north to south and four from west to east -- running through the province. The highways open to traffic total 64,453 km and have linked all townships in the province. The length of its operating expressways has reached 1,000 km.

Aviation:
Henan has 48 air routes to link its major cities of Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Nanyang with other places, with 500 scheduled flights to and from 56 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi¡¯an; and five scheduled flights reaching Hong Kong, Macao, and Taipei (via Macao) each week. The Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport, with a designed annual handling capacity of six million passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, is one of the 10 largest airports in China, also an alternate airport for the Beijing Capital International Airport.

Telecommunications
Number of telephones:
Henan is an important hinge of communication in China. Three of the nation¡¯s first-class optical cables and three microwave trunk lines run through the province, making it possible for Henan to have automatic long-distance transmission, digital long-distance routes and program-controlled telephone switchboards all over the province. Its telephone exchange capacity has reached 11.2 million circuits, with 9.38 million telephone users, 3.11 million mobile phone users and 1.1 million Internet users.

Radio and TV stations:
There are 19 radio stations and 18 TV stations at provincial and city levels, and 135 TV transmitting and relay stations of 1 kw and above. The coverage of radio and TV audience in the province is 94 percent and 92.5 percent of its population respectively.