Hainan

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The highest peak is Five Finger Mountain (Wuzhishan), which is 1879m/6166ft.

Until the 1950s almost a third of Hainan was covered in tropical rain forest, but apart from some 2400sq.km/930sq.mi it was then all cut down to provide agricultural land. Since then attempts have been made to make good the damage through a re-deforestation program. Three nature reserves have been set up to protect wild life.

The subtropical and tropical climate produces high average temperatures and high rainfall; in the south of the island the annual rainfall can be as high as 2000mm/80in.

During the Tang and Song period (7th-13th C) undesirable officials and intellectuals were sent into exile on the island. In the 15th C the Li, the original inhabitants, were driven into the hills and forests in the south by Han Chinese immigrants from the mainland. In 1939 the Japanese occupied the island. Hainan became a province in its own right in 1988; prior to that it had formed part of Guangdong.

In 1988 the province was declared a Special Economic Zone. Its economy is based on rubber production, iron-ore mining and - with 50 per cent of the area being used for agriculture - on the cultivation of tropical fruits such as bananas and pineapples. In addition, coal and non-ferrous metals are mined and oil is extracted off the coast. Fishing is also of importance. Currently, Hainan is being developed as an international center for tourism.