Hunan

Hunan, inland province, central China. The province is rich in mineral and agricultural resources and encompasses a broad, fertile alluvial plain in the north, which borders the Yangtze River and the large Dongting Hu and a series of low hills in the east, south, and west. Summer rice and winter wheat are the leading crops, with tea and cotton also important. Mineral resources include antimony, manganese, mercury, tungsten, and phosphates. Major cities are Changsha (the capital), Xiangtan, Zhuzhou, Hengyang, and Shaoyang.

Hunan was the center of the powerful southern kingdom of Ch'u before its annexation in 221 bc by the Qin (Ch’in) dynasty, becoming part of the first unified Chinese state. Extensive Chinese settlement of the region occurred between the 8th and 11th centuries, displacing the Miao, Tujia, Yao, and other ethnic minorities into the western uplands. Between 1910 and 1949 Hunan was a center of peasant unrest. Area, 210,500 sq km (81,270 sq mi); population 66,628,000 (2003 estimate).