Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

and

Loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

plateaus and borders Mongolia (

Govi-Altai Province Govi-Altai ( mn, Говь-Алтай / , ) is an aimag (province) in western Mongolia. Transportation The Altai Airport (LTI/ZMAT) has one paved runway and is served by regular flights to Arvaikheer, Bayankhongor and Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar ...

), Inner Mongolia and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south and Shaanxi to the east. The Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province. Part of Gansu's territory is located in the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

. The Qilian mountains are located in the south of the Province. Gansu has a population of 26 million, ranking 22nd in China. Its population is mostly

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

, along with Hui, Dongxiang and

minorities. The most common language is Mandarin. Gansu is among the poorest administrative divisions in China, ranking 31st, last place, in GDP per capita as of 2019. The

State of Qin Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted ex ...

originated in what is now southeastern Gansu and went on to form the first known Empire in what is now

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The Northern Silk Road ran through the Hexi Corridor, which passes through Gansu, resulting in it being an important strategic outpost and communications link for the Chinese empire. The city of

Jiayuguan Jiayuguan (嘉峪关) may refer to two locations in Gansu, China: *Jiayuguan (pass), pass of the Great Wall of China *Jiayuguan City Jiayuguan (, ) is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Gansu province, with a population of 312,663 as of th ...

, the second most populated city in Gansu, is known for its section of the Great Wall and the Jiayuguan Pass fortress complex.

Name

Gansu is a compound of the names of Gānzhou (now the main

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

and

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

of Zhangye) and Sùzhou (an old name and the modern seat of Jiuquan), formerly the two most important Chinese settlements in the Hexi Corridor. Gansu is abbreviated as "" () or "" (), and was also known as Longxi () or Longyou () prior to early Western Han dynasty, in reference to the Long Mountain (the modern day Liupan Mountain's southern section) between eastern Gansu and western Shaanxi.

History

Gansu's name is a compound name first used during the Song dynasty. It is a combination of the names of two

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

() in the Sui and Tang dynasty: Gan (around Zhangye) and Su (around Jiuquan). Its eastern part forms part of one of the cradles of ancient Chinese civilisation.

Ancient Gansu

In prehistoric times, Gansu was host to Neolithic cultures. The Dadiwan culture, from where archaeologically significant artifacts have been excavated, flourished in the eastern end of Gansu from about 6000BC to about 3000BC. The Majiayao culture and part of the Qijia culture took root in Gansu from 3100 BC to 2700 BC and 2400 BC to 1900 BC respectively. The Yuezhi originally lived in the very western part of Gansu until they were forced to emigrate by the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 ...

around 177 BCE. The

, known in China as the founding state of the

Chinese empire The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

, grew out from the southeastern part of Gansu, specifically the Tianshui area. The Qin name is believed to have originated, in part, from the area. Qin tombs and artifacts have been excavated from Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200-year-old map of

Guixian County Guigang (; Zhuang: ''Gveigangj'') is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangxi in the People's Republic of China. Prior to 1988, it was known as Gui County or Guixian (). Geography and climate Guigang is located in eastern Guangxi. It is locat ...

Imperial era

Chinese jar, Neolithic period, painted earthenware, HAA

In imperial times, Gansu was an important strategic outpost and communications link for the Chinese empire, as the Hexi Corridor runs along the "neck" of the province. The Han dynasty extended the Great Wall across this corridor, building the strategic

Yumenguan Yumen Pass (; Uyghur: قاش قوۋۇق), or Jade Gate or Pass of the Jade Gate, is the name of a pass of the Great Wall located west of Dunhuang in today's Gansu Province of China. During the Han dynasty (202 BC – AD 220), this was a p ...

(Jade Gate Pass, near

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...

) and

Yangguan Yangguan, or Yangguan Pass (), is a mountain pass that was fortified by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty around 120 BC and used as an outpost in the colonial dominions adjacent to ancient China. It is located approximately southwest of Du ...

fort towns along it. Remains of the wall and the towns can be found there. The Ming dynasty built the

outpost in Gansu. To the west of Yumenguan and the Qilian Mountains, at the northwestern end of the province, the Yuezhi,

Wusun The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' <

Old Chinese

(140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi-

, and other nomadic tribes dwelt ( Shiji 123), occasionally figuring in regional imperial Chinese

geopolitics Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...

. By the Qingshui treaty, concluded in 823 between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty, China lost much of western Gansu province for a significant period. After the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate, a Buddhist Yugur (Uyghur) state called the

Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom The Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom (), also referred to as the Hexi Uyghurs, was established in 894 around Ganzhou in modern Zhangye. The kingdom lasted from 894 to 1036; during that time, many of Ganzhou's residents converted to Buddhism. The Hexi Corri ...

was established by migrating Uyghurs from the Khaganate in part of Gansu that lasted from 848 to 1036AD. Along the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

, Gansu was an economically important province, as well as a cultural transmission path. Temples and Buddhist

grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...

es such as those at Mogao Caves ('Caves of the Thousand Buddhas') and

Maijishan Caves The Maijishan Grottoes (), formerly romanized as Maichishan, are a series of 194 caves cut in the side of the hill of Maijishan in Tianshui, Gansu Province, northwest China. This example of rock cut architecture contains over 7,200 Buddhist s ...

contain artistically and historically revealing murals. An early form of paper inscribed with Chinese characters and dating to about 8BC was discovered at the site of a Western Han

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

near the Yumen pass in August 2006. The Xixia or Western Xia dynasty controlled much of Gansu as well as Ningxia. The province was also the origin of the Dungan Revolt of 1862–77. Among the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

forces were Muslim generals, including

Ma Zhan'ao Ma Zhan’ao (1830–1886) (, Xiao'erjing: ) was a Chinese Muslim General who defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1872 during the Dungan revolt along with his General Ma Qianling and General Ma Haiyan who served under him during the revolt. He firs ...

and Ma Anliang, who helped the Qing crush the rebel Muslims. The revolt had spread into Gansu from neighbouring Qinghai. There was another Dungan revolt from 1895 to 1896. JiayuguanFort

Republican China

As a result of frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines, the economic progress of Gansu was significantly slower than that of other provinces of China until recently. Based on the area's abundant mineral resources it has begun developing into a vital industrial center. An earthquake in Gansu at 8.6 on the Richter scale killed around 180,000 people mostly in the present-day area of Ningxia in 1920, and another with a magnitude of 7.6 killed 275 in 1932. The

Muslim Conflict in Gansu (1927–1930) Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham ...

was a conflict against the Guominjun. While the Muslim General Ma Hongbin was acting chairman of the province, Muslim General Ma Buqing was in virtual control of Gansu in 1940. Liangzhou District in Wuwei was previously his headquarters in Gansu, where he controlled 15 million Muslims. Xinjiang came under Kuomintang (Nationalist) control after their soldiers entered via Gansu. Gansu's Tienshui was the site of a Japanese-Chinese warplane fight. Gansu was vulnerable to Soviet penetration via Xinjiang. Gansu was a passageway for Soviet war supplies for the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lanzhou was a destination point via a road coming from Dihua (Ürümqi). The Gonxingdun Aerodrome was one of several air bases where the Chinese Air Force operated in defense of Gansu. Gansu provided wartime China with most of the locally sourced petrol from the Yumen Laojunmiao oil wells beginning in the summer of 1939, producing 250,000 tons of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

in those war years. Lanzhou and Lhasa were designated to be recipients of a new railway. The

Kuomintang Islamic insurgency in China (1950–1958) The Kuomintang Islamic insurgency () was a continuation of the Chinese Civil War by Chinese Muslim nationalist Kuomintang Republic of China Army forces mainly in Northwest China, in the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang, an ...

was a prolongation of the Chinese Civil War in several provinces including Gansu.

Geography

Gansu has an area of , and the vast majority of its land is more than above sea level. It lies between the Tibetan Plateau and the Loess Plateau, bordering Mongolia (

) to the northwest, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia to the north, Shaanxi to the east, Sichuan to the south, and Xinjiang to the west. The Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province. The province contains the geographical centre of China, marked by the Center of the Country Monument at . Part of the

is located in Gansu, as well as small parts of the Badain Jaran Desert and the Tengger Desert. The Yellow River gets most of its water from Gansu, flowing straight through Lanzhou. The area around Wuwei is part of Shiyang River Basin. The landscape in Gansu is very mountainous in the south and flat in the north. The mountains in the south are part of the Qilian Mountains, while the far western Altyn-Tagh contains the province's highest point, at . A natural land passage known as Hexi Corridor, stretching some from Lanzhou to the

Jade Gate Yumen Pass (; Uyghur: قاش قوۋۇق), or Jade Gate or Pass of the Jade Gate, is the name of a pass of the Great Wall located west of Dunhuang in today's Gansu Province of China. During the Han dynasty (202 BC – AD 220), this was a p ...

, is situated within the province. It is bound from north by the Gobi Desert and Qilian Mountains from the south. Gansu generally has a semi-arid to arid continental climate ( Köppen ''BSk'' or ''BWk'') with warm to hot summers and cold to very cold winters, although

diurnal temperature range In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak d ...

s are often so large that maxima remain above even in winter. However, due to extreme altitude, some areas of Gansu exhibit a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(''Dwc'') – with winter temperatures sometimes dropping to . Most of the limited precipitation is delivered in the summer months: winters are so dry that snow cover is confined to very high altitudes and the

snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...

can be as high as in the southwest. File:Mondsichelsee.JPG, Crescent Lake,

File:Suzhou, Jiuquan, Gansu, China - panoramio (6).jpg, Qilian Mountains southeast of Jiuquan File:鸟瞰去陇南的公路 - panoramio.jpg,

Terrace farm In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

s near Tianshui File:岷县秦许乡.jpg, Grasslands in Min County File:玛曲，黄河湿地 - panoramio.jpg, Wetland by the Yellow River,

Maqu County Maqu County (; ) is a county of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Gansu province of the People's Republic of China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the east and southeast, and Qinghai to the southwest, west and northwes ...

Administrative divisions

Gansu is divided into fourteen prefecture-level divisions: twelve prefecture-level cities and two

autonomous prefectures Autonomous prefectures () are one type of autonomous administrative divisions of China, existing at the prefectural level, with either ethnic minorities forming over 50% of the population or being the historic home of significant minorities. A ...

: The fourteen

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

of Gansu are subdivided into 82 county-level divisions (17 districts, 4 county-level cities, 58 counties, and 3

autonomous counties Autonomous counties () and autonomous banners () are county-level autonomous administrative divisions of China. The two are essentially identical except in name. There are 117 autonomous counties and three autonomous banners. The latter are fo ...

Urban areas

Politics

Secretaries of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Gansu Committee: The Secretary of the CCP Gansu Committee is the highest-ranking office within Gansu Province. #

Zhang Desheng Zhang Desheng () (October 1909 – March 4, 1965) also known as Zhang Shide (), was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Yulin, Shaanxi. He was Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Gansu (1949–1954) and Shaanxi (195 ...

(): 1949–1954 # Zhang Zhongliang (): 1954–1961 # Wang Feng (): 1961–1966 # Hu Jizong (): 1966–1967 # Xian Henghan (): 1970–1977 # Song Ping (): 1977–1981 #

Feng Jixin Feng Jixin () (1915–2005) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province. A member of the New Fourth Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was sent to Nenjiang Province (now part of Heilongjiang ...

(): 1981–1983 # Li Ziqi (): 1983–1990 # Gu Jinchi (): 1990–1993 #

Yan Haiwang Yan Haiwang (born 1939) is a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Zhengzhou, Henan Province and educated in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. He was governor of Gansu from January to September 1993 and Chinese Communist Party Committe ...

(): 1993–1998 #

Sun Ying Sun Ying (born December 1936) is a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Baodi District, Tianjin. He graduated from Shanxi Normal University in 1958. He was Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Taiyuan, Shanxi from 1987 ...

(): 1998–2001 #

Song Zhaosu Song Zhaosu (; March 1941 – 25 July 2022) was a Chinese politician. Early life and education He was born in Nanyang, Henan. He graduated from Zhengzhou University in 1964 and a year later joined the Chinese Communist Party. Career Song Zhaos ...

(): 2001–2003 #

Su Rong Su Rong (; born October 1948) is a former senior regional official and politician in China. He began his career in his native Jilin, and successively served as Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Qinghai, Gansu, and Jiangxi provinces. I ...

(): 2003–2007 # Lu Hao (): April 2007 − December 2011 #

Wang Sanyun Wang Sanyun (; born December 1952) is a former Chinese politician. He began his political career in Guizhou province, before serving in Sichuan, Fujian, and Anhui provinces. He served as Anhui governor between 2007 and 2011, and was transferred t ...

(): December 2011 − March 2017 #

Lin Duo Lin Duo (; born March 1956) is a Chinese politician currently serving as Communist Party secretary of Gansu province. He formerly served as Communist Party Secretary and Mayor of Harbin, and Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection ...

(): March 2017 − March 2021 # Yin Hong (): March 2021 − December 2022 # Hu Changsheng (): December 2022 - present Governors of Gansu: The Governorship of Gansu is the second highest-ranking official within Gansu, behind the Secretary of the CPC Gansu Committee. The governor is responsible for all issues related to economics,

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

, political initiatives, the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and the

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

of the province. The Governor is appointed by the Gansu Provincial People's Congress, which is the province's legislative body. # Wang Shitai (): 1949–1950 # Deng Baoshan (): 1950–1967 # Xian Henghan (): 1967–1977 # Song Ping (): 1977–1979 #

(): 1979–1981 #

Li Dengying Li Dengying () (1914–1996) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province. He was a member of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army early in life. He was governor of Gansu Gansu (, ; alterna ...

(): 1981–1983 #

Chen Guangyi Chen Guangyi (; born August 1933) was a Chinese politician. He served as Governor of Gansu Province, Communist Party Secretary of Fujian Province, and Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Under his leadership, Fujian achieved r ...

(): 1983–1986 #

Jia Zhijie Jia Zhijie (; born 1935) is a retired politician of the People's Republic of China. He was born in Jilin Province. He graduated from the Moscow Petroleum Institute in 1960, the same year he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He served as gov ...

(): 1986–1993 #

(): 1993 # Zhang Wule (): 1993–1996 #

(): 1996–1998 #

(): 1998–2001 # Lu Hao (): 2001–2006 # Xu Shousheng (): January 2007 – July 2010 #

Liu Weiping Liu Weiping (; born May 1953) is a Chinese politician, currently serving as Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He served as Governor of Gansu from 2010 to 2016, and prior to that, Vice-Governor of Qinghai Province and mayor of Na ...

(): July 2010 – April 2016 #

(): April 2016 – April 2017 # Tang Renjian (): April 2017−December 2020 # Ren Zhenhe (): December 2020-present

Economy

Despite recent growth in Gansu and the booming economy in the rest of China, Gansu is still considered to be one of the poorest provinces in China. For several years, it has ranked as one of the provinces with lowest GDP per capita. Its nominal GDP for 2017 was about 767.7 billion yuan (US$113.70 billion) and per capita of 29,326 RMB (US$4,343). The province also has a large difference in wealth between regions and urban versus rural areas. The poorest areas are Dingxi, Longnan, Gannan and Linxia. According to analysts, the local economy failed to gather momentum while other provinces did manage to increase their economic growth.

Agriculture

5920-Dongxiang-County-Daxiahe-valley-fields-seen-from-Linxia-County

Due to poor natural conditions such as aridness, Gansu is one of the Chinese provinces with smallest per capita area of arable land. Agricultural production includes cotton,

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

, maize, melons (such as the honeydew melon, known locally as the Bailan melon,

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

, and wheat. Gansu is known as a source for wild medicinal herbs which are used in Chinese medicine. However, pollution by heavy metals, such as cadmium in irrigation water, has resulted in the poisoning of many acres of agricultural land. The extent and nature of the heavy metal pollution is considered a state secret.

Industry

The industrial sector in Gansu was developed after completion of the Longhai railway in 1953 and blueprinted in the first

five-year plan of China The Five-Year Plans () are a series of social and economic development initiatives issued by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1953 in the People's Republic of China. Since 1949, the CCP has shaped the Chinese economy through the plenums o ...

. Until 2014, the industrial sector contributed the most to Gansu's economy. The most important industries are petrochemicals,

non-ferrous metal In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron (allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable proper ...

lurgy, machinery and electronics. The province is also an important base for wind and solar power. As a result of environmental protection policies, the industry sector is not growing. The manufacturing sector has been shrinking for several years and has low investment numbers. According to some sources, the province is also a center of China's nuclear industry. As stipulated in the country's 12th Five Year Plan, the local government of Gansu hopes to grow the province's GDP by 10% annually by focusing investments on five pillar industries: renewable energy, coal, chemicals, nonferrous metals, pharmaceuticals and services.

Mining

A large part of Gansu's economy is based on mining and the extraction of minerals, especially rare earth elements. The province has significant deposits of antimony,

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...

, coal, cobalt, copper, fluorite, gypsum, iridium, iron, lead, limestone,

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, mirabilite, nickel,

, platinum, troilite, tungsten, and zinc among others. The oil fields at Yumen and Changqing are considered significant. Gansu has China's largest nickel deposits accounting for over 90% of China's total nickel reserves.

Services

Since 2014, the service sector is the largest economic sector of Gansu. Tourism is a sector that is becoming of increased importance.

Economic and technological development zones

The following economic and technological zones are situated in Gansu: *Lanzhou National Economic and Technological Development Zone was established in 1993, located in the center of Lanzhou Anning District. The zone has a planned area of . 17 colleges, 11 scientific research institutions, 21 large and medium-size companies and other 1735 enterprises have been set up in the zone. Main industries include textile mills, rubber, fertilizer plants, oil refinery, petrochemical, machinery, and metallurgical industry. *Lanzhou New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, Lanzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, one of the first 27 national hi-tech industrial development zones, was established in 1998 covering more than . It is expected to expand another . The zone mainly focuses on Biotechnology, chemical industry, building decoration materials and information technology.

Demographics

Gansu province is home to a little less than 25 million people. 73% of the population was rural, but much relocation in recent years has reduced this. Gansu is 92%

and also has Hui,

, Dongxiang, Tu, Yugur, Bonan, Mongolian, Salar, and

Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...

minorities. Gansu province's community of Chinese Hui Muslims was bolstered by Hui Muslims resettled from Shaanxi province during the Dungan Revolt. Gansu is also a historical home, along with Shaanxi, of the dialect of the Dungans, who migrated to Central Asia. The southwestern corner of Gansu is home to a large ethnic Tibetan population. Modern Gansu is dominated by Lanzhou city and Linxia Hui prefectures, their growth hides the stark fact that much of the rest is rapidly losing population.

Languages

Most of the inhabitants of Gansu speak dialects of Northern Mandarin Chinese. On the border areas of Gansu one might encounter Tu, Amdo Tibetan, Mongolian, and the

Kazakh language The Kazakh or simply Qazaq (Latin: or , Cyrillic: or , Arabic Script: or , , ) is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia by Kazakhs. It is closely related to Nogai, Kyrgyz and Karakalpak. It is the official lan ...

. Most of the minorities also speak Chinese.

Culture

A unique variety of Chinese folk music popularly identified with the local peoples of Gansu include the '' "Hua'er" (flowery melodies)'', and is popular among the Han and nine ethnic groups of Gansu. The cuisine of Gansu is based on the staple crops grown there: wheat, barley,

, beans, and sweet potatoes. Within China, Gansu is known for its lamian (pulled noodles), and Muslim restaurants which feature authentic Gansu cuisine.

Religion

According to a 2012 survey around 12% of the population of Gansu belongs to organised religions, the largest groups being

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

with 8.2%, followed by Muslims with 3.4%,

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

with 0.4% and Catholic with 0.1% (in total, as of 2012 Christians comprise 0.5% of the population, decreasing from 1.02% in 2004) Around 88% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and folk religious sects. Muslim restaurants are common, and feature typical Chinese dishes, but without any pork products, and instead an emphasis on lamb and mutton. Gansu has many works of Buddhist art, including the Maijishan Grottoes. Dunhuang was a major centre of Buddhism in the Middle Ages.

Tourism

Yulin Cave 3 w wall Manjusri (Western Xia)

Jiayuguan Pass of the Great Wall

Jiayuguan Pass, in Jiayuguan city, is the largest and most intact pass, or entrance, of the Great Wall. Jiayuguan Pass was built in the early Ming dynasty, somewhere around the year 1372. It was built near an oasis that was then on the extreme western edge of China. Jiayuguan Pass was the first pass on the west end of the great wall so it earned the name "The First And Greatest Pass Under Heaven". An extra brick is said to rest on a ledge over one of the gates. One legend holds that the official in charge asked the designer to calculate how many bricks would be used. The designer gave him the number and when the project was finished, only one brick was left. It was put on the top of the pass as a symbol of commemoration. Another account holds that the building project was assigned to a military manager and an architect. The architect presented the manager with a requisition for the total number of bricks that he would need. When the manager found out that the architect had not asked for any extra bricks, he demanded that the architect make some provision for unforeseen circumstances. The architect, taking this as an insult to his planning ability, added a single extra brick to the request. When the gate was finished, the single extra brick was, in fact, extra and was left on the ledge over the gate.

Mogao Grottoes

The Mogao Grottoes near

have a collection of Buddhist art. Originally there were a thousand grottoes, but now only 492 cave temples remain. Each temple has a large statue of a buddha or bodhisattva and paintings of religious scenes. In 336 AD, a monk named Le Zun (Lo-tsun) came near Echoing Sand Mountain, when he had a vision. He started to carve the first grotto. During the

Five Dynasties period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...

they ran out of room on the cliff and could not build any more grottoes.

Silk Road and Dunhuang City

The historic

starts in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) and goes to Constantinople (Istanbul). On the way merchants would go to Dunhuang in Gansu. In Dunhuang they would get fresh camels, food and guards for the journey around the dangerous Taklamakan Desert. Before departing Dunhuang they would pray to the Mogao Grottoes for a safe journey, if they came back alive they would thank the gods at the grottoes. Across the desert they would form a train of camels to protect themselves from thieving bandits. The next stop, Kashi (Kashgar), was a welcome sight to the merchants. At Kashi most would trade and go back and the ones who stayed would eat fruit and trade their Bactrian camels for single humped ones. After Kashi they would keep going until they reached their next destination. Located about southwest of the city, the Crescent Lake or Yueyaquan is an oasis and popular spot for tourists seeking respite from the heat of the desert. Activities includes camel and 4x4 rides.

Silk Route Museum

The Silk Route Museum is located in Jiuquan along the

, a trading route connecting Rome to China, used by

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

. It is also built over the tomb of the Western Liang King.Silk Route Museum China Tourist Information
Tourist Link.

Bingling Temple

Bingling Temple, or Bingling Grottoes, is a Buddhist cave complex in a canyon along the Yellow River. Begun in 420 AD during the Jin dynasty, the site contains dozens of caves and caverns filled with outstanding examples of carvings, sculpture, and frescoes. The great Maitreya Buddha is more than 27 meters tall and is similar in style to the great Buddhas that once lined the cliffs of

Bamiyan Bamyan or Bamyan Valley (); ( prs, بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an alti ...

, Afghanistan. Access to the site is by boat from Yongjing in the summer or fall. There is no other access point.

Labrang Monastery

Labrang Tashikyil Monastery is located in

Xiahe County Xiahe (; ) is a county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, the People's Republic of China, bordering Qinghai province to the west. It is home to the famed Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist ...

, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, located in the southern part of Gansu, and part of the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo. It is one of the six major monasteries of the Gelukpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, and the most important one in Amdo. Built in 1710, it is headed by the Jamyang-zhaypa. It has 6 ''dratsang'' (colleges), and houses over sixty thousand religious texts and other works of literature as well as other cultural artifacts.

Maijishan Grottoes

The Maijishan Grottoes are a series of 194 caves cut in the side of the hill of Majishan in Tianshui. This example of rock cut architecture contains over 7,200 Buddhist sculptures and over 1,000 square meters of

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

. Construction began in the Later Qin era (384–417 CE).

Education

Gansu province is home to the only class A Double First Class University in China's northwest, Lanzhou University.

Colleges and universities

* Lanzhou University, Lanzhou () * Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou () * Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou () * Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou () * Northwest University of Nationalities, Lanzhou () * Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou () *

Lanzhou City University Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

, Lanzhou () *

Gansu Political Science and Law Institute Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

, Lanzhou () *

Gansu University of Technology Gansu (, ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kansu) is a provinces of China, province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative dis ...

* Lanzhou Commercial College *

Lanzhou Polytechnic College Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

Hexi University Hexi (河西) may refer to: Historical entities of China * Guiyi Circuit, a regime during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that controlled the Hexi Corridor * Hexi Province (河西省), a province, now defunct, of the Republic of China * ...

, Zhangye () *

Northwest Minority University The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Tianshui Normal College Tianshui is the second-largest city in Gansu Province, China. The city is located in the southeast of the province, along the upper reaches of the Wei River and at the boundary of the Loess Plateau and the Qinling Mountains. As of the 2020 censu ...

(Tianshui) * Longdong College (Qingyang)

Natural resources

Land

* grassland * mountain slopes suitable for livestock breeding * forests (standing timber reserves of ) * cultivated land ( per capita) * wasteland suitable for forestation * wasteland suitable for farming

Minerals

Three thousand deposits of 145 different minerals. Ninety-four minerals have been found and ascertained, including nickel, cobalt, platinum, selenium, casting clay, finishing serpentine, whose reserves are the largest in China. Gansu has advantages in getting nickel, zinc, cobalt, platinum, iridium, copper,

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

, and baudisserite.

Energy

Among Gansu's most important sources of energy are its water resources: the Yellow River and other inland river drainage basins. Gansu is placed ninth among China's provinces in annual hydropower potential and water discharge. Gansu produces 17.24 gigawatts of hydropower a year. Twenty-nine hydropower stations have been constructed in Gansu, altogether(?) capable of generating 30 gigawatts. Gansu has an estimated coal reserve of 8.92 billion tons and

petroleum reserve Oil and gas reserves denote ''discovered'' quantities of petroleum, crude oil and natural gas (oil or gas Petroleum reservoir, fields) that can be profitably produced/recovered from an approved development. Oil and gas reserves tied to approved ...

of 700 million tons. There is also good potential for wind and solar power development. The

Gansu Wind Farm The Gansu Wind Farm Project or Jiuquan Wind Power Base is a group of large wind farms under construction in western Gansu province in China. The Gansu Wind Farm Project is located in desert areas near the city of Jiuquan in two localities of Gua ...

project – already producing 7.965GW in 2015 – is expected to achieve 20GW by 2020, at which time it will likely become the world's biggest collective windfarm. In November 2017 an agreement between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Gansu government was announced, to site and begin operations of a molten salt reactor pilot project in the province by 2020.

Flora and fauna

Gansu has 659 species of wild animals. It has twenty-four rare animals which are under a state protection. Gansu's mammals include some of the world's most charismatic: the

giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes us ...

golden monkey The golden monkey (''Cercopithecus kandti'') is a species of Old World monkey found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Vi ...

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

, snow leopards, sika deer,

musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all seven, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, but rather their fa ...

, and the Bactrian camel. Among zoologists who study moles, the Gansu mole is of great interest. For a reason that can only be speculated, it is taxologically a New World mole living among Old World moles: that is to say, an American mole living in a sea of Euro-Asians. Gansu is home to 441 species of birds; it is a center of endemism and home to many species and

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

which occur nowhere else in the world. Gansu is China's second-largest producer of medicinal plants and herbs, including some produced nowhere else, such as the

hairy asiabell ''Codonopsis pilosula'', also known as ''Dangshen'' (), is a perennial species of flowering plant in the bellflower family. It is native to Asia, where it grows in forests, meadows, and scrub.fritillary bulb, and Chinese caterpillar fungus.

Environment

Natural disasters

On 16 December 1920, Gansu witnessed the deadliest landslide ever recorded. A series of landslides, triggered by a single earthquake, accounted for most of the 180,000 people killed in the event.

Anti-desertification project

The Asian Development Bank is working with the State Forestry Administration of China on the

Silk Road Ecosystem Restoration Project Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from ...

, designed to prevent degradation and

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...

in Gansu. It is estimated to cost up to US$150 million.

Space launch center

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located in the Gobi desert, is named after the city of Jiuquan, Gansu, the nearest city, although the center itself is in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

References

External links

Gansu Government official website
* {{Authority control Provinces of the People's Republic of China Inner Asia Mongolia Western China 1666 establishments in China