Jilin (province, China)

Jilin (province, China), also Kirin, province in Northeast China, bordering on Russia and North Korea in the east, and occupying the central part of the historic region of Manchuria. It comprises high mountain ranges in the east, a fertile lowland in the west, and an intervening complex of low hills. The major river is the Songhua. Corn, soybeans, and sugar beets are the chief crops. Forestry is important, and the various mineral resources include coal, iron ore, copper, and lead. Changchun, the principal city, is also the capital and chief industrial center; other cities include Jilin, Tonghua, Baicheng, and Liaoyuan. Ethnic minorities, including Manchus, Hui (Chinese Muslims), and Koreans, account for about 10 percent of the population.

As part of the northeastern homeland of the Manchus, who established the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), the region was officially closed to Chinese settlement until it was made a Chinese province in 1907. During the Japanese occupation of Manchuria (1931-1945), it underwent rapid resource development and industrialization as part of the Japanese-controlled state of Manchukuo (1932-1945). Area, about 187,000 sq km (about 72,200 sq mi); population 42,542,300 (2003 estimate).