Guangdong

Area: 198,500 sq.km/76,640 sq.mi

Population: 70 million. Capital: Canton

Traversed by the Tropic of Cancer, Guangdong Province lies in south China, between 108°13' and 119°59'E and 3°28' and 25°31'N. Its jurisdiction covers a mainland region together with a number of islands scattered over the South China Sea. The main dialect is Cantonese, which is spoken mainly in the west and north of the province, while the Hakka dialect will be heard in the north and Fujian in the eastern coastal region.

Guangdong is distinguished by mountainous country, which in the north is separated from the Changjiang river valley by the 2000m/6600ft high Nanling Mountains, and by flatlands at the mouth of the Xijiang and on the Leizhou peninsula. The monsoon climate is typical of tropical and subtropical areas of China. Temperatures often climb as high as 40°C (104°F), and most of the rain falls during the summer months, when Guangdong is often struck by typhoons.

Under the Qin Emperor Shi Huangdi (reigned 221-210 BC), at a time when Guangdong was inhabited by minority peoples and not by the Han, some areas of the province became part of the Chinese Empire, which subsequently swallowed up the whole region during the Han period (206 BC-AD 220). As a result of its coastal situation foreign influences have been evident here ever since the Tang period (618-907), when a mosque was built in Canton. Trade with other countries developed considerably until the 12th C. At that time, and in the centuries which followed, many Han came to Guangdong. From the 16th C onwards European influence began to be felt in Guangdong; in 1553 Macau became Portuguese, in 1841-42 Hong Kong was taken over by the British and in 1898 Canton came under French administration. Large numbers of people emigrated to southeast Asia and North America, and half of the Chinese overseas population hailed originally from Guangdong.

Guangdong is China's richest province, and produces an eighth of the country's total income. In 1992 it showed a growth rate of about 19 per cent; local investment grew by 35 per cent and almost one-half of overseas investments in China were made in the province. Its proximity to Hong Kong and Macau aided its economic growth.