Guangdong is a province of the People’s Republic of China. In 2020, the province had a population of around 126 million.
Guangdong, alternatively romanized as Canton Province or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in southern China on the north coast of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (in 2020) over a total area of approximately 179,800 km 2 (69,400 sq mi), Guangdong is the most populous province of China and the 15th largest by area as well as the second most populous country subdivision in the world (after Uttar Pradesh in India ). Its economy is larger than that of any other province in the country and the third largest sub-national economy in the world with a GDP of US$1.95 billion (CNY 12.37 billion) in 2021. The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, a Chinese megalopolis, is a core for high technology, manufacturing and foreign trade. Located in this zone are two of the top four Chinese cities and the top two Chinese prefecture-level cities by GDP; Guangzhou, the capital of the province, and Shenzhen, the first special economic zone in the country. These two are among the most populous and important cities in China, and have now become two of the world’s most populous megacities.
According to andyeducation, Guangdong province overtook Henan and Shandong to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, with 79.1 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants living in the province for at least six months of the year; the total population was 104,303,132 in the 2010 census, representing 7.79 percent of China’s population. This makes it the most populous first-level administrative subdivision of any country outside South Asia. Its population increase since the census has been modest, and the province registered 108,500,000 people in 2015. The vast majority of historic Guangdong Province is administered by the People’s Republic of China. Pratas Island in the South China Sea is part of Cijin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (ROC); the island was formerly part of Guangdong province before the Chinese Civil War.
Guangdong has a diversified economy. It was known as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Route of ancient China. Since 1989, Guangdong has topped the total GDP ranking among all divisions at the provincial level, with Jiangsu and Shandong ranking second and third. As of 2018, Guangdong’s GDP reached 1.47 trillion US dollars (CNY 9.73 trillion), surpassing that of Spain with GDP of 1.43 trillion US dollars, the 13th largest in the world. The province contributes about 12% of the total economic output of mainland China, and is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide range of Chinese and foreign corporations. Guangdong has benefited from its proximity to the financial hub of Hong Kong, which borders it to the south. Guangdong also hosts the largest import and export fair in China, the Canton Fair, which is held in the provincial capital Guangzhou.
The 20th Century
During the early 1920s of the Republic of China, Guangdong was the staging area for the Kuomintang to prepare for the Northern Expedition, an attempt to bring the various warlords of China back under a unified central government. Whampoa Military Academy was built near Guangzhou to train military commanders.
In recent years, the province has experienced extremely rapid economic growth, helped in part by its close trade links with neighboring Hong Kong. It is now the province with the highest gross domestic product in China.
In 1952, a small portion of Guangdong’s coastline (Qinzhou, Lianzhou, Fangchenggang and Beihai) was given to Guangxi, giving it access to the sea. It was reversed in 1955, then restored in 1965. Hainan Island was originally part of Guangdong, but it was separated into its own province in 1988.
Geography
Guangdong faces the South China Sea in the south and has 4,300 km of coastline. The Leizhou Peninsula is at the southwestern tip of the province. There are some inactive volcanoes on Leizhou Peninsula. The Pearl River Delta is the convergent point of three upstream rivers: the East River, North River and West River. The river delta is filled with hundreds of small islands. The province is geographically separated from the north by a pair of mountain ranges collectively called the Nan Ling Mountains. The highest peak in the province is Shikengkong with a height of 1,902 meters above sea level.
Guangdong borders Fujian to the northeast, Jiangxi and Hunan to the north, Guangxi Autonomous Region to the west, and Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions to the south. Hainan is on the coast opposite the Leizhou Peninsula. Pratas Island, which was traditionally ruled as part of Guangdong, is currently part of Cijin County, Kaoshiung, Taiwan.
Guangdong has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa inland, Cwa along the coast). Winters are short, moderate and relatively dry, while summers are long, hot and very wet. Average daily maxima in Guangzhou in January and July are 18 °C and 33 °C, although the humidity makes it feel hotter in the summer. Frost is rare on the coast, but can occur for a few days each winter.