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'Guangxi', full name 'Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region', is a Zhuang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China.
"Guang" itself means "expanse", and was associated with the region from the Western Jin Dynasty onwards. "Guangxi" and neighbouring Guangdong literally mean "Guang West" and "Guang East". Together, Guangdong and Guangxi are called the "Two Guangs" (两广, Liǎng Guǎng).
The abbreviation of the province is 桂 (Gui), which comes from Guilin, a major city in the autonomous region.

Contents

Administrative divisions

Economy

Demographics

Culture

Geography

Institutions of higher learning

Tourism

See also

External links

Administrative divisions

Main articles: List of administrative divisions of Guangxi

Guangxi is divided into fourteen prefecture-level cities, fifty-six counties, thirty-four districts, twelve ethnic autonomous counties and seven county-level cities. The fourteen prefecture-level cities are:

★ Baise (百色市)

★ Beihai (北海市)

★ Chongzuo (崇左市)

★ Fangchenggang (防城港市)

★ Guigang (贵港市)

★ Guilin (桂林市)

★ Hechi (河池市)

★ Hezhou (贺州市)

★ Laibin (来宾市)

★ Liuzhou (柳州市)

★ Nanning (南宁市)

★ Qinzhou (钦州市)

★ Wuzhou (梧州市)

★ Yulin (玉林市)

Economy

Important crops in Guangxi include rice, maize, sweet potatoes, and wheat. Cash crops include sugar cane, peanuts, tobacco, and kenaf.
Guangxi has more tin, manganese, and indium deposits than any other province of China.
In recent years Guangxi's economy has languished behind that of its wealthy neighbour and twin, the province of Guangdong.
Guangxi's 2004 nominal GDP was about 332.0 billion yuan (US$41.19 billion) and ranked seventeenth in China. Its per capita GDP was 6,790 yuan (US$850).

Demographics

The region has a high concentration of Zhuang, over 14 million, one of the major minority ethnicities of China. Over 90% of Zhuang in China live in Guangxi, especially in the central and western regions. There is also a significant number of both Dong and Miao minority peoples. Other ethnic groups include: Yao, Hui, Yi (Lolo), Shui, and Gin (Vietnamese).

Culture

Guangxi is known for its linguistic diversity. In the capital of Nanning, for example, four dialect-languages are spoken locally: Southwestern Mandarin, Cantonese, Pinghua, and Zhuang.

Geography

Located in the southern part of the country, Guangxi is bordered by Yunnan to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast, and Guangdong to the southeast. It is also bounded by Vietnam in the southwest and the Gulf of Tonkin in the south.
Guangxi is a mountainous region. The Nanling Mountains are found in the northeast border, with the Yuecheng Mountains (越城岭) and Haiyang Mountains (海洋山) being its shorter branching ridges. Nearer to the center of the region are the Dayao Mountains (大瑶山) and the Daming Mountains (大明山). To the north there are the Duyao Mountains (都阳山) and the Fenghuang Mountains (凤凰山), while on the southeast border there are the Yunkai Mountains (云开大山). The highest point is Mount Mao'er (猫儿山) located in the Yuecheng Mountains, at 2141 m.
Many rivers cut valleys through the mountains. Most of these rivers from the tributary basin of the West River:

Xijiang River system schematic
			贺江 Hejiang River	西江 ''Xijiang River''
		漓江 Lijiang River	桂江 Guijiang River
北盘江 ''Beipan River''	红水河 Hongshui River	黔江 Qianjiang River	浔江 Xunjiang River
南盘江 Nanpan River
融江 Rongjiang River	柳江 Liujiang River
龙江 Longjiang River
右江 Youjiang River	邕江 Yongjiang River	郁江 Yujiang River
左江 Zuojiang River

Guangxi has a short coastline on the Gulf of Tonkin. Important seaports include Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang.
Guangxi has a subtropical climate. Summers are generally long and hot. Average annual temperature is 17 to 23°C, while average annual precipitation is 1250 to 1750 mm.
Major cities include: Nanning, Beihai, Guilin, Liuzhou.
Notable towns include: Longmen, Sanjiang, Yangshuo.

Institutions of higher learning

★ Guangxi University

★ Guangxi Medical University

★ Guangxi Normal University

★ Guilin University of Electronic Technology

Tourism

The major tourist attraction of Guangxi is Guilin, a town famed across China and the world for its spectacular setting by the Lijiang River (Li River) amongst severe karst peaks. It also used to be the capital of Guangxi, and Jingjiang Princes City, the old princes residence, is open to the public. South of Guilin down the river is the town of Yangshuo, which has become a favourite destination for foreign tourists, particularly backpackers.
Ethnic minorities native to Guangxi, such as the Zhuang and Dong, are also interesting for tourists. The northern part of the province, bordering with Guizhou, is home to the Longmen rice terraces, said to be some of the steepest in the world. Nearby Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County.

See also

★ Prefecture Apostolic of Kwang-si (historic Catholic mission)

★ HIV/AIDS in China

★ HIV in Yunnan

★ Gao Yaojie

External links

★ Guangxi Government

★ Large map of Guangxi

★ Travel Guangxi Guide

★ Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region