Guangdong Province

Canton (in Chinese, 广东; pinyin, Guǎngdōng is a province South China coast located on the north shore of the South China Sea. Its capital is the city of Guangdong. With a population of 126.03 million (according to the 2020 census) in a total area of about 179 At 800 km², Guangdong is China's most populous province and the 15th largest by land area, as well as the world's second most populous country subdivision.Its economy is larger than any other province in the nation and the fourth largest subnational economy. largest in the world, with a GDP of US$1.66 trillion (CNY 10.77 trillion) in 2019. The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, a Chinese megalopolis, is a hub of high-tech, manufacturing and This zone is home to two of the four major Chinese cities and the top two Chinese cities at the prefectural level by GDP: Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and Shenzhen, the country's first special economic zone. These cities are among the most populous and important in China, and have become two of the most populous megacities in the world.

Guangzhou is the first region in population since January 2005, when it officially surpassed the records of Henan and Shandong provinces, with a total population reflected in the 2010 census of 104,303,132 people, 7.79% of the country's population. In the last decades, population growth has slowed down after the extraordinary rises of the preceding decades. The People's Republic of China controls most of the historic province of Guangdong, except for the Pratas archipelagos, controlled by the Republic of China (Taiwan) since the end of the Chinese civil war.

Guangzhou's economy is highly diversified and since 1989 it has topped the GDP ranking among all provincial divisions. In 2018 its GDP was estimated at 1.47 trillion USD –in terms of per capita income some 13,257 USD–, thus exceeding the GDP of 1.43 trillion USD reached by a Western developed country like Spain, the 13th. º Largest national GDP in the world. Guangzhou contributes 12% of China's national production, and is home to the industrial facilities and offices of many of the main national and foreign companies, as well as being the engine of exports and imports of the country.

Its proximity to Hong Kong, a major world financial center, with which it borders to the south and which has been part of China since 1997, has also helped its development. The proximity of the special administrative region of Hong Kong, in addition to that of Macao, has greatly extended the reach of Canton's cultural influence, which has influenced the lifestyle of Chinese residents in Singapore and Malaysia.

Toponymy

Etymologically, its name comes from 广 guǎng ("wide") and 东 dōng ("east"), which together literally mean "expansion to the East". "Guangdong" is the romanization of the Chinese pinyin name, which was proposed by the Chinese authorities for use in Western languages. "Canton" has traditionally been used in European languages to designate both the province and its capital, in pinyin, "Guǎngzhōu", due to the similarity between the two. The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas recommends using the name "Canton" for both the province and the city.

History

Prehistory

The Neolithic began in the Pearl River Delta (珠江三角洲) 7,000 years before present (BP), with the early period around 7,000 to 5,000 BP (c. 5050-3050 BCE), and the late period from around 5000 to 3500 BP (c. 3050-1550 BCE). On the Guangdong coast, the Neolithic was probably introduced from the mid-Yangtze River area (Jiao 2013). In inland Guangdong, the Neolithic appeared in Guangdong 4,600 years before present (BP). The Neolithic in northern inland Guangdong is represented by the Shixia (石峽文化) culture, which took place between 4,600 and 4,200 BC (c. 2650-2250 BC).

Imperial

Originally inhabited by a mix of tribal groups known to the Chinese as the Baiyue ('Hundred Yue'), the region first became part of China during the Qin dynasty. Under the Qin dynasty, Chinese administration began and with it reliable historical records in the region. After establishing the first unified Chinese empire, the Qin expanded south and established Nanhai Commandery in Panyu, near what is now part of Guangdong (China). The region was an independent kingdom as Nanyue between the fall of the Qin and the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. The Han dynasty administered Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam as Jiaozhi Province; the southernmost province of Jiaozhi was used as a gateway for traders from the West, right up until the Roman Empire. Under the Wu kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period, Guangdong became its own province, Guang Province, in AD 226.

Once known as Canton, it was a prosperous port city in a tropical frontier region beset by disease and wild animals, but rich in oranges, plantains, bananas, and lychees, which they traded in slaves, silk, and porcelain with Persians, Brahmins and Malays in exchange for their renowned medicines and aromatic tropical woods. Shiite Muslims who had fled persecution in Khorasan and Buddhists from India lived side by side in the prosperous city, each erecting their own temples. A foreign quarter arose along the river, where many merchants of various origins, including Arabs and Sinhalese, settled.

The port's importance waned after the Arabs and Persians stormed it in 758, and foreign residents sometimes ran into trouble with corrupt local officials, who sometimes responded with violence. In an incident in 684, for example, the captain of a merchant ship assassinated a corrupt governor who had used his position to rob him.

Along with Guangxi, Guangdong became part of the Lingnan Circuit (political division of the Circuit), or South-Mountain Circuit, in 627 during the Tang dynasty. The Guangdong part of Lingnan Circuit was renamed East Guangnan Circuit (廣南東路) in 971 during the Song dynasty (960-1279). "Guangnan East" (廣南東) is the origin of the name "Guangdong" (廣東; 广东): 227

Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world. European merchants arriving north across the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea, primarily Portuguese and British, traded extensively through Canton (China)|Canton. Macao, on the southern coast of Guangdong, was the first European settlement in 1557.

In the 19th century, opium traded through Guangzhou, China|Guangzhou triggered the First War of Opium, opening an era of incursion and intervention by Western imperialists in China. In addition to Macao, which was then a Portuguese colony, Hong Kong was ceded to the British, and Kwang-Chou-Wan (present-day Zhanjiang area) to the French.

Due to the large number of people who immigrated out of Guangdong province, and in particular the ease of immigration from Hong Kong to other parts of the British Empire (later British Commonwealth), many Overseas Chinese communities have their origins in Guangdong and/or Cantonese culture. In particular, the Cantonese, Hakka, and Teochew dialects have proportionally more speakers among Overseas Chinese than Mandarin-speaking Chinese. In addition, many Taiwanese-speaking Chinese immigrated to Western countries, with the result that many Western versions of Chinese words were derived from Cantonese dialects rather than through the mainstream Mandarin language, such as " dim sum". Some Mandarin Chinese words of foreign origin also originate from the original foreign language via Cantonese. For example, the word mandarin níngméng (simplified Chinese: 柠檬; traditional Chinese: 檸檬), meaning "lemon", comes from Cantonese, where the characters are pronounced as lìng mung. a large number of Chinese descendants of immigrants from the city of Taishan (Toisan in Cantonese), who speak a distinctive dialect related to Cantonese called Taishanese (or Toishanese).

During the 1850s, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, whose leader Hong Xiuquan was born in Guangdong and received a pamphlet from a Protestant Christian missionary in Guangdong, allied with a local rebellion of the Guangdong Red Turbans (1854-1856). Due to direct contact with the West, Guangdong was the center of anti-Manchu and anti-imperialist activity. The generally recognized founder of modern China, Sun Yat-sen, was also from Guangdong.

20th century

Provincial Government of Kwangtung of the Republic of China.

During the early ROC 1920s, Guangdong was the Kuomintang (KMT) staging area for the Northern Expedition, an effort to bring together China's various warlords under one unified central government. Whampoa Military Academy was built near Canton to train military commanders.

In recent years, the province has experienced extremely rapid economic growth, helped in part by its close trade ties with, which borders Hong Kong. It is currently the province with the highest gross domestic product in China.

In 1952, a small part of Guangdong's coastline (Qinzhou, Lianzhou (present-day Hepu County), Fangchenggang, and Beihai) was ceded to Guangxi, giving it access to the sea. This was reversed in 1955, and then restored in 1965. Hainan Island was originally part of Guangdong, but was separated into its own province in 1988.

Administrative division

Guangdong is divided into twenty-one prefecture-level divisions: all prefecture-level cities (including two sub-provincial cities):

Guangdong administrative divisions
Canton Shaoguan Shenzhen Zhuhai Shantou Foshan Jiangmen Zhanjiang Maoming Zhaoqing Huizhou Meizhou Shanwei Heyuan Yang. Qingyuan Dongguan Zhongwan Chaozhou Jieyang Yunfu Macao Hong Kong Jieshi Town, Lufeng, Shanwei (Islas Pratas). Claimed by RPCRPC " controlled by ROC.
Code of division	Division	Area in km2	Population (2010)	Headquarters	Divisions
					Districts	County	Self-contained	Cities-condado
440000	Canton Province	179,800.00	126,012,510	City of Canton	65	34	3	20
440100	City of Canton	7,434.40	18,676,605	Yuexiu District	11
440200	City of Shaoguan	18,412.53	2,855,131	Zhenjiang District	3	4	1	2
440300	City of Shenzhen	1.996.78	17,560,061	Futian District	9*
440400	City of Zhuhai	1.724.32	2,439,585	Xiangzhou District	3
440500	Shantou City	2,248.39	5,502,031	Jinping District	6	1
440600	City of Foshan	3,848.49	9,498,863	Chancheng District	5
440700	City of Jiangmen	9,505.42	4.798,090	Pengjiang District	3			4
440800	City of Zhanjiang	13,225.44	6,981,236	Chikan District	4	2		3
440900	Maoming City	11,424.8	6,174,050	Maonan District	2			3
441200	City of Zhaoqing	14,891.23	4,113,594	Duanzhou District	3	4		1
441300	Huizhou City	11,342.98	6,042,852	Huicheng District	2	3
441400	City of Meizhou	15,864.51	3,873,239	Meijiang District	2	5		1
441500	Shanwei City	4,861.79	2,672,819	Cheng District	1	2		1
441600	City of Heyuan	15,653.63	2,837,686	Yuancheng District	1	5
441700	Yangjiang City	7,955.27	2,602,959	Jiangcheng District	2	1		1
441800	Qingyuan City	19.152.90	3,969,473	Qingcheng District	2	2	2	2
441900	Dongguan City*	2.465.00	10,466,625	Nancheng Subdistrict
442000	Zhongwan City**	1.783.67	4,418,060	Dongqu Subdistrict
445100	City of Chaozhou	3.145.89	2,568,387	Xiangqiao District	2	1
445200	Jieyang City	5,265.38	5,577,814	Rongcheng District	2	2		1
445300	Yunfu City	779.12	2,383,350	Yuncheng District	2	2		1
Sub-provincial

Urban areas

Geography

Lake in Zhaoqing, west of the river of the Pearls.

Guangdong faces the South China Sea to the south and has a total of 4,300 km of coastline. The Leizhou Peninsula is in the extreme southwest of the province. On the Leizhou Peninsula there are some dormant volcanoes. The Pearl River Delta is the convergence point of three upstream rivers: the East River, the North River, and the West River. The river delta is filled with hundreds of small islands. The province is geographically separated from the north by mountain ranges collectively called the Nan (Nan Ling) Mountains. The highest peak in the province is Shikengkong, with a height of 1,902 meters above sea level.

Guangdong is bordered by Fujian to the northeast, Jiangxi and Hunan to the north, the Guangxi Autonomous Region to the west, and the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions to the south. Hainan faces the Leizhou Peninsula. Traditionally governed as part of Guangdong, the Pratas Islands are part of Cijin County in Kaoshiung, Taiwan (ROC).

Landscape in Danxiashan, a geopark in Shaoguan.

The cities surrounding the Pearl River Delta are Dongguan, Foshan, Guangdong, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Shunde, Taishan, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. Other cities in the province are Chaozhou, Chenghai, Nanhai, Shantou, Shaoguan, Zhanjiang, Zhaoqing, Yangjiang, and Yunfu.

Guangdong has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa in the interior, Cwa on the coast). Winters are short, mild, and relatively dry, while summers are long, hot, and very humid. The average daily highs in the city of Guangdong in January and July are 18 °C and 33 °C, although the humidity makes it feel hotter in summer. Frost is rare on the coast, but can occur on a few days in winter.

Economy

Guangdong is known to be a huge manufacturing power.

Electronics Shopping Center in Shenzhen.

In 2020, the gross domestic product (GDP) is about 1.6 trillion US dollars, Guangdong is the largest province by GDP since 1989 in mainland China. Guangzhou is responsible for 11% of China's $14.7 trillion GDP. As of 2020, Guangzhou's GDP was slightly higher than Canada's, which ranked ninth. Compared to that of the subdivisions of the country in terms of dollars, its GDP is greater than that of all the territorial subdivisions of the world except 3: California, Texas and New York.

After the communist revolution and until the start of Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 1978, Guangzhou had a low economic development, although there has always been a large underground economy based on services. Economic development policies encouraged industrial development in the interior provinces, which were loosely linked to Canton by transportation links. The government's policy of economic autarky made Canton's access to the ocean irrelevant.

Deng Xiaoping's open-door policy radically changed the economy of the province, which was able to take advantage of its access to the ocean, its proximity to Hong Kong and its historical ties to overseas Chinese. Furthermore, until the 1990s, when the Chinese tax system was reformed, the province benefited from the relatively low tax rate applied by the central government due to its economically backward status after Liberation.

Guangzhou's economic boom began in the early 1990s and has since spread to neighboring provinces, also dragging its population inland. Guangdong province's economic growth is largely due to the low-value-added manufacturing industry that characterized the province's economy after Deng Xiaoping's reforms. Guangzhou is not only China's largest exporter of goods, but also the country's largest importer.

The province is now one of the wealthiest in the country, with the largest number of billionaires in mainland China and the highest GDP of all provinces, though wage growth has only recently started to pick up due to the large influx of immigrant workers from neighboring provinces.

Culture

Ho Fen fried fiddles with meat sold as street food in Canton.

Traditional Cantonese architecture.

The central region, which is also the political and economic center, is populated predominantly by Yue Chinese speakers, although the influx over the past three decades of millions of Mandarin-speaking immigrants has slightly diminished Cantonese linguistic dominance. This region is associated with Cantonese cuisine. Cantonese opera is a form of Chinese opera popular in Cantonese-speaking areas. Dialects related to Yue are spoken in most of the western half of the province.

The area comprising the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang on Guangdong's eastern coast, known as Chaoshan, forms its own cultural sphere. The Teochew in this area, along with the Min from Hailufeng in Shanwei, speak Hokkien, a Min dialect closely related to Southern Min (Hokkien), and their cuisine is Teochew. Teochew opera is also very well known and has a unique form.

Hakka people live in large parts of Guangdong, such as Huizhou, Meizhou, Shenzhen, Heyuan, Shaoguan and other areas. Much of the eastern part of Guangzhou is populated by the Hakka people, except for the Chaozhou and Hailufeng area. Hakka culture includes Hakka cuisine, Han opera (simplified Chinese: 汉剧; traditional Chinese: 漢劇), Hakka hanyue and sixian (traditional instrumental music), and Hakka folk songs (客家山歌).

The marginalized Tanka people traditionally live on boats along the coasts and rivers of Guangdong and much of southern China.

In Zhanjiang, in southern Guangzhou, the Leizhou dialect, a variety of Minnan, predominates; Cantonese and Hakka are also spoken there.

Mandarin is the language used in education and government and in areas where there are migrants from other provinces, especially Shenzhen. Cantonese maintains a strong and dominant position in common usage and in the media, even in the eastern parts of the province, where the local languages and dialects are not Yue.

Guangzhou province is notable for being the birthplace of many famous Xiangqi (Chinese chess) grandmasters, such as Lü Qin, Yang Guanli and Cai Furu.

Education

Library at South China Agricultural University.

Campus of Humanities of the Technological University of South China.

The Guangzhou Provincial Education Department is the department of the provincial government that oversees education.

Universities

National level

• Sun Yat-sen University
• South China University of Technology
• Jinan University
• South China Agricultural University
• Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
• Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine

Provincial level

• Dongguan Institute of Technology
• Dongguan University of Technology
• Foshan University
• Guangdong Education and Research Network
• Guangdong General Hospital
• Guangdong Institute of Education
• Guangdong Institute of Science and Technology
• Guangdong Medical College
• Guangdong Ocean University
• Guangdong Petrochemical Academy
• Guangdong Pharmaceutical University
• Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University
• Guangdong Radio and TV University
• Guangdong University of Finance " Economics
• Guangdong University of Finance
• Guangdong University of Technology
• Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
• Guangzhou Education College
• Guangzhou Medical College
• Guangzhou Normal University
• Guangzhou Sports University
• Guangzhou University
• Hanshan Teachers College
• Huizhou University
• Panyu Polytechnic
• Shaoguan University
• Shenzhen Party School
• Shantou University
• Shenzhen University
• Shenzhen Technology University
• Shenzhen Polytechnic
• Shunde University
• South China Normal University
• South University of Science and Technology of China
• Southern Medical University
• Wuyi University
• Xijiang University
• Xinghai Conservatory of Music
• Zhanjiang Normal University
• Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering
• Zhaoqing University