Guangdong, also Kwangtung or Kuang-tung, province in southern China, on the South China Sea. The terrain of Guangdong is primarily rolling hills; the vast delta of the Zhu Jiang (Pearl River) is Guangdong’s only important lowland. Guangdong is one of China’s most important agricultural and business regions. In the province’s subtropical humid climate, two crops of rice a year are raised; other important products are sugarcane, fruit, and fish (both sea catch and pond-raised). Iron ore, tungsten, molybdenum, and coal are all mined in the area, and petroleum was discovered in 1979 on the Leizhou Bandao Peninsula. Guangzhou (sometimes called Canton) is the capital, largest city, manufacturing center, and chief port of the province. Other major cities include Shantou, Shaoguan, and Maoming. The province has benefited greatly from foreign investment because of its proximity to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). Businesses from the Hong Kong SAR have begun relocating to Guangdong, particularly to the three specially established economic zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shantou. Opened to attract foreign investment, the economic zones’ labor costs are markedly lower than those in more developed countries. The additional business is complementing the region’s agricultural strength.

The area of Guangdong was annexed into China in the 200s BC, during the Qin (Ch’in) dynasty. Han Chinese colonized the area in the 12th century. Guangzhou subsequently became China’s preeminent port, eventually developing trade with foreign merchants. A 17th-century Chinese law decreed that all foreign trade take place in the city. In the mid-1800s Guangzhou’s port status made it the site of the Opium Wars, two trade wars fought between Britain and China. After suffering defeat, China ceded Hong Kong to Britain and opened other Chinese cities to foreign trade, launching Shanghai as the premier trading zone over Guangzhou.

Because of Guangdong’s mid-19th century role as a trade center, residents of the province had more exposure to the outside world than those in other Chinese regions. Many Cantonese left the province to pursue gold rushes in North America and Australia, eventually establishing enclaves in their new homelands. Area, 197,100 sq km (76,100 sq mi); population 79,542,200 (2003 estimate).