Area: 10.5sq.km/4sq.mi
Xiamen lies in the southeast of Fujian province.
Xiamen's ancient town center - Amoy in the Fujian dialect - on the island of the same name is joined to the mainland by a long causeway built in 1956. Xiamen has a favorably-located natural harbor.
Being situated in the
subtropical zone, this coastal town enjoys a very mild maritime climate.
Xiamen was founded in 1394 to provide a defense against pirate attacks; later it became a sea-port. It was named Xiamen after the original fortress of Da Xia Zhi Men, known as the ''Gateway to the Great Edifice''; the term ''Great Edifice'' refers to China itself. General Zheng Chenggong (1624-62) set up a naval base here. In 1842, after China had been defeated in the Opium Wars, Xiamen became one of the five free ports which the government was forced to open up to international trade.
By the mid-1950s it had developed into an important industrial center. Since 1980 Xiamen has been one of the four Special Economic Zones, where a kind of free market economy operates.
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