Henan

Henan
河南
Province of Henan
Name transcription(s)
 • Chinese河南省 (Hénán shěng)
 • AbbreviationHA / HEN / ()
Map showing the location of Henan Province
Map showing the location of Henan Province
Coordinates: 33°54′N 113°30′E / 33.9°N 113.5°E / 33.9; 113.5
CountryChina
Named for
Capital (and largest city)Zhengzhou
Divisions17 prefectures, 159 counties, 2,455 townships
Government
 • TypeProvince
 • BodyHenan Provincial People's Congress
 • Party SecretaryLou Yangsheng
 • Congress ChairmanLou Yangsheng
 • GovernorWang Kai
 • CPPCC ChairmanKong Changsheng
 • National People's Congress Representation174 deputies
Area
 • Total
167,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi)
 • Rank17th
Highest elevation2,413.8 m (7,919.3 ft)
Population
 (2020)[2]
 • Total
99,365,519
 • Rank3rd
 • Density600/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
  • Rank7th
Demographics
 • Ethnic composition
  • Han: 98.6%
  • Others: 1.4%
 • Languages and dialectsZhongyuan Mandarin, Jin
GDP (2023)[3]
 • TotalCN¥5,913 billion (6th)
(US$ 839 billion)
 • Per capitaCN¥60,073 (25th)
(US$8,525)
ISO 3166 codeCN-HA
HDI (2022)0.760[4] (25th) – high
Websitehenan.gov.cn
Henan
"Henan" in Chinese characters
Chinese河南
PostalHonan
Literal meaningSouth of the Yellow River
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHénán
Bopomofoㄏㄜˊ   ㄋㄢˊ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhHernan
Wade–GilesHo2-nan2
IPA[xɤ̌.nǎn]
Wu
SuzhouneseGhôu-nóe
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationHòh-nàahm
JyutpingHo4-naam4
IPA[hɔ˩.nam˩]
Southern Min
Tâi-lôHô-lâm
Abbreviation
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin

Henan[a] is an inland province of China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including the ruins of Shang dynasty capital city Yin and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng and Zhengzhou, are in Henan.[8]

Although the name of the province means "south of the river",[9] approximately a quarter of the province lies north of the Yellow River, also known as the Huang He. With an area of 167,000 km2 (64,479 sq mi), Henan covers a large part of the fertile and densely populated North China Plain. Its neighboring provinces are Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, and Hubei.

Henan is China's third-most populous province with a population of over 99 million as of 2020. It is also the world's seventh-most populous subnational entity, and, if it were a country by itself, Henan would be the 14th-most populous country in the world, ahead of Egypt and Vietnam. People from Henan often suffer from regional discrimination.[10][11]

Henan is the 5th-largest provincial economy of China, the second largest in South Central China after Guangdong, and the largest among inland provinces, with a nominal GDP of 5.88 trillion RMB (US$926 billion) as of 2021, ahead of the GDP of Turkey of 815 billion.[12][13] If it were a country, it would be the 18th-largest economy as of 2021.[14] However, per capita GDP is low compared to other eastern and central provinces.[15] The economy continues to grow based on aluminum and coal prices, as well as agriculture, heavy industry, tourism and retail. High-tech industries and the service sector are concentrated around Zhengzhou and Luoyang.

Henan hosts more than 150 higher education institutions, ranking first in the Central China region.[16] As of 2023, three major cities in the province ranked in the top 200 cities in the world (Zhengzhou 76th, Kaifeng 154th and Xinxiang 195th) by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index.[17]

  1. ^ "Doing Business in China". Ministry of Commerce. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 3)". National Bureau of Statistics of China. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  3. ^ GDP-2021 is a preliminary data "Home - Regional - Quarterly by Province" (Press release). China NBS. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.; see also "zh: 2023年河南省国民经济和社会发展统计公报". henan.gov.cn. 30 March 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Human Development Indices (8.0)- China". Global Data Lab. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  5. ^ Longman, J.C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3 ed.). Pearson. ISBN 978-1405881173.
  6. ^ "Henan". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Henan". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
  8. ^ 中国八大古都_共产党员网. www.12371.cn. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  9. ^ (in Chinese) Origin of the Names of China's Provinces Archived 27 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, People's Daily Online.
  10. ^ Chris Buckley (11 October 2016). "Henan Province, a Butt of Jokes in China, Gets a Champion in Court". The New York Times.
  11. ^ "Many Chinese suffer discrimination based on their regional origin". The Economist. 11 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Decoding China's 2021 GDP Growth Rate: A Look at Regional Numbers". China Briefing News. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  13. ^ "GDP (current US$) - Turkiye | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  14. ^ "GDP (current US$) | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  15. ^ "China dreams on hold: heartland city feels chill of economic slowdown". Reuters. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  16. ^ ""List of National Colleges and Universities – Government Portal of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China"". www.moe.gov.cn. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Nature Index 2023 Science Cities". www.nature.com. Retrieved 22 November 2023.


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