Guangdong

Guangdong 广东 Canton, Kwangtung
Province
Chinese transcription(s)
• Simplified Chinese	广东省
• Hanyu pinyin	Guǎngdōng shěng
• Cantonese Jyutping	gwong2 dung1 saang2
• Abbreviation	GD / 粤 (Yuè / jyut6)
From top to bottom, left to right: Canton Tower in Guangzhou, Shenzhen Bay, Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, Huangmanzhai Waterfall, Taishan Xiachuan Island
Map showing the location of Guangdong Province
Coordinates: 23°24′N 113°30′E / 23.4°N 113.5°E / 23.4; 113.5
Country	China
Named for	Abbreviated from "Guǎngnándōng Lù" (A "lù" (often translated "Circuit") was equal to a province or a state in Song China) literally, "At the East of the Expanse" (Guangxi being the West)
Capital (and largest city)	Guangzhou
Divisions  – Prefecture-level  – County-level  – Township-|level	21 prefectures 122 counties 1609 towns and subdistricts
Government
• Type	Province
• Body	Guangdong Provincial People's Congress [zh]
• Party Secretary	Huang Kunming
• Congress Chairman	Huang Chuping
• Governor	Wang Weizhong
• Provincial CPPCC Chairman	Lin Keqing
• National People's Congress Representation	169 deputies
Area [1]
• Total	179,800 km2 (69,400 sq mi)
• Rank	15th
Highest elevation (Shikengkong)	1,902 m (6,240 ft)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	126,012,510
• Rank	1st
• Density	700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
• Rank	7th
Demonym(s)	Cantonese, Guangdongese[3]
GDP (2023)[4]
• Total	CN¥ 13.57 trillion (1st) US$ 1.93 trillion
• Per capita	CN¥ 106,986 (7th) US$ 15,182
ISO 3166 code	CN-GD
HDI (2022)	0.813[5] (6th) – very high
Website	www.gd.gov.cn (in Chinese)

Guangdong
"Guangdong" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	广东
Traditional Chinese	廣東
Postal	Kwangtung
Literal meaning	"Eastern Expanse"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guǎngdōngⓘ Bopomofo ㄍㄨㄤˇ   ㄉㄨㄥ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Goangdong Wade–Giles Kuang3-tung1 Tongyong Pinyin Guǎngdong Yale Romanization Gwǎngdūng MPS2 Guǎngdūng IPA [kwàŋ.tʊ́ŋ] Wu Romanization kuaon ton (T2) Hakka Romanization Gong3dung1 or Kóng-tûng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gwóngdùng or Gwóngdūng Jyutping gwong2 dung1 Canton Romanization Guong2-dung1 IPA [kʷɔŋ˧˥.tʊŋ˥˧] or [kʷɔŋ˧˥.tʊŋ˥] other Yue Taishanese Kwong˧˥ tung˥ Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kńg-tang Tâi-lô Kńg-tang Hainanese Romanization Kèng-dang Leizhou Romanization Gèng-tang Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Guōng-dĕ̤ng Middle Chinese Middle Chinese kwangX tung
Abbreviation
Simplified Chinese	粤
Traditional Chinese	粵
Literal meaning	[an ancient name for southern China's Baiyue]
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yuè Bopomofo ㄩㄝˋ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Yueh Wade–Giles Yüeh4 Tongyong Pinyin Yuè Yale Romanization Ywè MPS2 Yuè IPA [ɥê] Hakka Romanization Yet6 or Ye̍t Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yuht Jyutping jyut6 Canton Romanization Yüd6 IPA [jyt̚˨] other Yue Taishanese Yut ˨ Southern Min Hokkien POJ Oa̍t Tâi-lô Ua̍t Leizhou Romanization O̍et

Guangdong,^[a] previously romanized as Kwangtung or Canton, is a coastal province in South China, on the north shore of the South China Sea.^[7] The provincial capital is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.84 million (as of 2021)^[8] across a total area of about 179,800 km² (69,400 sq mi),^[1] Guangdong is China's most populous province and its 15th-largest by area, as well as the third-most populous country subdivision in the world.

Guangdong's economy is the largest of any provincial-level division in China, with a GDP of 13.57 trillion RMB ($1.9 trillion in GDP nominal) in 2023, contributing approximately 10.6% of mainland China's economic output. It has a diversified economy, and was known as the starting point of ancient China's Maritime Silk Road.^[9] It is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide-ranging set of Chinese and foreign corporations. Guangdong has benefited from its proximity to the financial hub of Hong Kong, which it borders to the south. Guangdong also hosts the largest import and export fair in China, the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou. The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, a Chinese megalopolis, is a core for high technology, manufacturing and foreign trade. In this zone are two of the four top Chinese cities and the top two Chinese prefecture-level cities by GDP: Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the first special economic zone in the country. These two are among China's most populous and important cities, and have become two of the world's most populous megacities and leading financial centres in the Asia-Pacific region.^[10]

Guangdong surpassed Henan and Shandong to become China's most populous province in January 2005, registering 79.1 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who lived in the province for at least six months of the year;^[11][12] the total population was 126,012,510 in the 2020 Chinese census, accounting for 8.93 percent of mainland China's population.^[13] This makes it the most populous first-level administrative subdivision of any country outside South Asia. The vast majority of the historical Guangdong Province is administered by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Pratas Island in the South China Sea is part of Cijin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (ROC); the island was part of Guangdong Province before the Chinese Civil War.^[14][15]

After the unification of Lingnan region during the Qin dynasty, immigrants from the Central Plains moved in and formed a local culture with a unique style. With the outward movement of the Guangdong people, the Hakka and Cantonese languages, music, cuisine, opera and tea ceremony have spread throughout the nation, Southeast Asia, and other countries. Guangdong was also the birthplace of the father of modern China and the founder of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen. He declared a military government there in the Warlord Era. The two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau fall within the scope of Guangdong's cultural influence, and its culture still has profound influences on the Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia, with the vast majority of the Chinese diaspora in the two countries claiming ancestry from Guangdong.

Guangdong is also one of the leading provinces in research and education in China. It hosts 160 institutions of higher education, ranking first in the South Central China region and second among all Chinese provinces/municipalities, after Jiangsu.^[16] As of 2023, two major cities in the province ranked in the top 20 cities in the world (Guangzhou 9th and Shenzhen 19th) by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index.^[17]

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