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Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of the People's Republic of
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 ...
, part of the
South Central China South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by State Council that includes the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Hen ...
region. Located in the middle reaches of the
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
to the north,
Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
to the east,
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
and
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
to the south,
Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
to the west and
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
to the northwest. Its capital and largest city is
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
, which also abuts the Xiang River.
Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 ...
,
Zhuzhou Zhuzhou (, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is part of the " Greater Chan ...
, and
Yueyang Yueyang, formerly known as Yuezhou or Yochow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake and Yangtze in the northeastern corner of Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China. Yueyang has an administrative area of a ...
are among its most populous urban cities. With a population of just over 66 million residing in an area of approximately , it is China's 7th most populous province, the fourth most populous among landlocked provinces, the second most populous in South Central China after Guangdong and the most populous province in Central China. It is the largest province in
South-Central China South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by State Council that includes the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Hen ...
and the fourth largest among landlocked provinces and the 10th most extensive province by area. Hunan's
nominal GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...
was US$ 724 billion (CNY 4.6 trillion) as of 2021, appearing in the world's top 20 largest sub-national economies, with its
GDP (PPP) GDP (PPP) means gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity. This article includes a list of countries by their forecast estimated GDP (PPP). Countries are sorted by GDP (PPP) forecast estimates from financial and statistical ...
being over US$1.1 trillion. Hunan is the 9th-largest provincial economy of China, the fourth largest in South Central China, the third largest in Central China and the fourth largest among landlocked provinces. Its GDP (nominal) per capita exceeded US$10,900 (69,300 CNY), making it the third richest province in the South Central China region after Guangdong and Hubei. As of 2020, Hunan's
GDP (nominal) Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...
reached 605 billion US dollars ( CNY 4.18 trillion), exceeding that of Poland, with a GDP of US$ 596 billion and Thailand, with a GDP of US$ 501 billion, the 22nd and 25th largest in the world respectively. The name ''Hunan'' literally means "south of the lake". The lake that is referred to is
Dongting Lake Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lak ...
, a lake in the northeast of the province; Vehicle license plates from Hunan are marked (), after the
Xiang River The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the 2nd largest tributary (after Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the 5th largest tributar ...
, which runs from south to north through Hunan and forms part of the largest drainage system for the province. The area of Hunan was under Chinese rule as far back as 350 BC. Hunan was the birthplace of communist revolutionary
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, who became the
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party () was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The position was established at the 8th National Congress in 1945 and abolished at the 12th National Congress in 1982, bei ...
and the
founding father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
of the
People's Republic of 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 ...
. Hunan today is home to some ethnic minorities, including the Tujia and
Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...
, along with the
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
, who make up a majority of the population. Varieties of Chinese spoken include Xiang,
Gan The word Gan or the initials GAN may refer to: Places *Gan, a component of Hebrew placenames literally meaning "garden" China * Gan River (Jiangxi) * Gan River (Inner Mongolia), * Gan County, in Jiangxi province * Gansu, abbreviated ''Gā ...
and
Southwestern Mandarin Southwestern Mandarin (), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (), is a Mandarin Chinese language spoken in much of Southwest China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the northe ...
. The site of
Wulingyuan Wulingyuan (, zh, c=武陵源) is a scenic and historical site in the Wulingyuan District of South Central China's Hunan Province. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. It is noted for more than 3,000 quartzite sandstone pi ...
was inscribed as a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 1992.
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
, the capital, is located in the eastern part of the province; it is now an important commercial, manufacturing and transportation centre. The busiest airports serve domestic and international flights for Hunan, including
Changsha Huanghua International Airport Changsha Huanghua International Airport is the airport serving Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, China, and the Greater Changsha Metropolitan Region comprising the nearby cities of Zhuzhou and Xiangtan. As of 2021, it was one of the ...
,
Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport () is an airport serving Zhangjiajie, Hunan, People's Republic of China . The airport is located in Huhua village in Yongding District of Zhangjiajie. It is the second largest airport in Hunan, after Chang ...
and
Changde Taohuayuan Airport Changde Taohuayuan Airport is an airport in Changde, a city in the Hunan province of China. Airlines and destinations See also *List of airports in China This is a list of public airports in the People's Republic of China grouped by prov ...
. Hunan is the seat of the
Yuelu Academy The Yuelu Academy (also as known as the ''Yuelu Academy of Classical Learning'', ) is on the east side of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, Hunan province, on the west bank of the Xiang River. As one of the four most prestigious academies over the last ...
(later become
Hunan University Hunan University (HNU; ; pinyin: Húnán Dàxué''),'' colloquially abbreviated as HúDà (湖大), is a national key public research university located in Changsha, Hunan, and a Double First Class University as well as a member of Project 211 ...
), which is one of the four major academies over the last 1000 years in ancient China. As of 2022, Hunan hosts 130
institutions of higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completio ...
, ranking sixth among all Chinese provinces.


History

Hunan's primeval forests were first occupied by the ancestors of the modern
Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...
, Tujia, Dong and
Yao people The Yao people (its majority branch is also known as Mien; ; vi, người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and reside in ...
s. The province entered written
Chinese history 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 ...
around 350 BC, when the province became part of the
Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...
. After
Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
conquered the Chu in 278 BC, the region came under the control of Qin, and then the
Changsha Kingdom The Changsha Kingdom was a kingdom within the Han Empire of China, located in present-day Hunan and some surrounding areas. The kingdom was founded when Emperor Gaozu granted the territory to his follower Wu Rui in 203 or 202 BC, around the sa ...
during the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
. At this time, and for hundreds of years thereafter, the province was a magnet for settlement of
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
from the north, who displaced and assimilated the original indigenous inhabitants, cleared forests and began farming rice in the valleys and plains. The agricultural colonization of the lowlands was carried out in part by the Han people, which managed river dikes to protect farmland from floods. To this day, many of the small villages in Hunan are named after the Han families who settled there. Migration from the north was especially prevalent during the
Eastern Jin dynasty Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air ...
and the
Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...
periods, when nomadic invaders (
Five Barbarians The Five Barbarians, or Wu Hu (), is a Chinese historical exonym for five ancient non-Han peoples who immigrated to northern China in the Eastern Han dynasty, and then overthrew the Western Jin dynasty and established their own kingdoms in the ...
) pushed these peoples south. During the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 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 conc ...
, Hunan was home to its own independent regime,
Ma Chu Chu (), known in historiography as Ma Chu () or Southern Chu (), was a Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic state of China that existed from 907 to 951. It is listed as one of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period#Ten Kingdoms, Ten Kingdoms ...
. Hunan and
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
became a part of the province of
Huguang Huguang was a province of China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. It was founded by the Yuan dynasty in 1274. During the Yuan dynasty it included the areas of modern Hubei south of the Yangtze river, Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. During the Ming ...
until the
Qing dynasty 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-speak ...
. Hunan province was created in 1664 from Huguang, renamed to its current name in 1723. Hunan became an important communications center due to its position on the
Yangzi River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
. It was an important centre of scholarly activity and
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
thought, particularly in the
Yuelu Academy The Yuelu Academy (also as known as the ''Yuelu Academy of Classical Learning'', ) is on the east side of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, Hunan province, on the west bank of the Xiang River. As one of the four most prestigious academies over the last ...
in
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
. It was also on the Imperial Highway constructed between northern and southern China. The land produced grain so abundantly that it fed many parts of China with its surpluses. The population continued to climb until, by the nineteenth century, Hunan became overcrowded and prone to peasant uprisings. Some of the uprisings, such as the ten-year Miao Rebellion of 1795–1806, were caused by ethnic tensions. The
Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...
began in the south in
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
Province in 1850. The rebellion spread into Hunan and then further eastward along the Yangzi River valley. Ultimately, it was a Hunanese army (
Xiang Army 150px, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang Army The Xiang Army or Hunan Army () was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called '' tuanlian'' to contain the Taiping Rebellion in Qing China ...
) under
Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan, Marquis Yiyong (; 26 November 1811 – 12 March 1872), birth name Zeng Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan, was a Chinese statesman and military general of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for raising and organizing the Xiang A ...
who marched into
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
to put down the uprising in 1864. In 1920, a famine raged throughout Hunan and killed an estimated 2 million Hunanese civilians. This sparked the
Autumn Harvest Uprising The Autumn Harvest Uprising was an insurrection that took place in Hunan and Kiangsi (Jiangxi) provinces of China, on September 7, 1927, led by Mao Tse-tung, who established a short-lived Hunan Soviet. After initial success, the uprising was ...
of 1927. It was led by Hunanese native
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, and established a short-lived Hunan Soviet in 1927. The Communists maintained a guerrilla army in the mountains along the Hunan-
Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
border until 1934. Under pressure from the Nationalist
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) forces, they began the
Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...
to bases in
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
Province. After the departure of the Communists, the KMT army fought against the Japanese in the
second Sino-Japanese war The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
. They defended Changsha until it fell in 1944. Japan launched
Operation Ichigo Operation Ichi-Go ( ja, 一号作戦, Ichi-gō Sakusen, lit=Operation Number One) was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, fought from Apri ...
, a plan to control the railroad from
Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...
to
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
( Yuehan Railway). Hunan was relatively unscathed by the civil war that followed the defeat of the Japanese in 1945. In 1949, the Communists returned once more as the Nationalists retreated southward. In the 1950s General Wang Zhen coerced thousands of Hunanese women into sexual servitude at PLA units in Xinjiang. As Mao Zedong's home province, Hunan supported the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
of 1966–1976. However, it was slower than most provinces in adopting the reforms implemented by
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
in the years that followed Mao's death in 1976. In addition to CCP Chairman
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, a number of other first-generation communist leaders were also from Hunan: Chinese President
Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and C ...
; CCP Secretary-generals
Ren Bishi Ren Bishi (; 30 April 1904 – 27 October 1950) was a military and political leader in the early Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In the early 1930s, Ren commanded the Fifth Red Army and was a central figure in the Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet, but ...
and
Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (; 20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1987, first as Chairman from 1981 to 1982, then as Genera ...
; Marshals
Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (; October 24, 1898November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader, who served as China's Defense Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor peasant family, and received several years of primary edu ...
,
He Long He Long (; March 22, 1896 – June 9, 1969) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and one of the ten marshals of the People's Liberation Army. He was from a poor rural family in Hunan, and his family was not able to provide him with any formal e ...
, and
Luo Ronghuan Luo Ronghuan (; November 26, 1902 – December 16, 1963) was a Chinese communist military leader. He served as a Vice Chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Biography Luo was born in a village in Hengshan County, ...
; Wang Zhen, one of the
Eight Elders The Eight Great Eminent Officials (), abbreviated as the Eight Elders (), were a group of elderly members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who held substantial power in the last two decades of the 20th century. In the English-speaking world, t ...
;
Xiang Jingyu Xiang Jingyu (, – , ''née'' Xiang Junxian), was one of the earliest female members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), widely regarded as a pioneer of the women's movement of China. Early life Xiang Jingyu was born in Xupu, Hunan provinc ...
, the first female member of the CCP's central committee; Senior General
Huang Kecheng Huang Kecheng () (October 1, 1902 – December 28, 1986) was a senior general (大将) in the People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and th ...
; and veteran diplomat
Lin Boqu Lin Boqu (; Pinyin: ''Lín Bóqú''; Wade-Giles: ''Lin Po-ch'u''; March 20, 1886 – May 29, 1960) was a Chinese politician and poet. An early supporter of Sun Yat-sen and member of the Tongmenghui, as well as a later participant in the Na ...
. An example of a more recent leader from Hunan is former
Chinese Premier The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...
Zhu Rongji Zhu Rongji (; IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1998 to 2003 and CCP Politburo Standing Committee member from 1992 to 2002 along with the Chinese Communist ...
.


Geography

Hunan is located on the south bank of the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
, about half way along its length, situated between 108° 47'–114° 16' east
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...
and 24° 37'–30° 08' north
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
. Hunan covers an area of , making it the 10th largest provincial-level division. The east, south and west sides of the province are surrounded by mountains and hills, such as the
Wuling Mountains The Wuling Mountains () are a mountain range located in Central China, running from Chongqing Municipality and East Guizhou to West Hunan. They are home to many ethnic groups, including as the Tujia, Han, Miao, Dong, and Bai. Wulingyuan Th ...
to the northwest, the
Xuefeng Mountains The Xuefeng Mountains () are a mountain range of China in western Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, ...
to the west, the
Nanling Mountains The Nanling (), also known as the Wuling (), is a major mountain range in Southern China that separates the Pearl River Basin from the Yangtze Valley and serves as the dividing line between south and central subtropical zones. The main range ...
to the south, and the
Luoxiao Mountains The Luoxiao Mountains () are a system of mountain ranges in the People's Republic of China that straddle Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan provinces. Subranges Among other smaller ranges, the Luoxiao Mountains include the following subranges: *Wugong Moun ...
to the east. Mountains and hills occupy more than 80% of the province, and plains less than 20%. At 2115.2 meters above sea level, the highest point in Hunan province is Lingfeng (). The Xiang, the Zi, the Yuan and the
Lishui Lishui (; Lishuinese: ''li⁶ syu³'' ) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It borders Quzhou, Jinhua and Taizhou to the north, Wenzhou to the southeast, and the province of Fujian to ...
Rivers converge on the Yangtze River at
Lake Dongting Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake ...
in the north of Hunan. The center and northern parts are somewhat low and a U-shaped basin, open in the north and with Lake Dongting as its center. Most of Hunan lies in the basins of four major tributaries of the Yangtze River.
Lake Dongting Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake ...
is the largest lake in the province and the second largest freshwater lake of China. The
Xiaoxiang Xiaoxiang (), also transliterated ''XiaoXiang'', ''Hsiao Hsiang'', and ''Chiu Chiang'', in some older sources, refers to the "lakes and rivers" region in south-central China south of the middle-reaches of the Yangtze River and corresponding, more ...
area and Lake Dongting figure prominently in Chinese poetry and paintings, particularly during the Song dynasty when they were associated with officials who had been unjustly dismissed. Changsha (which means "long sands") was an active ceramics district during the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, its tea bowls, ewers and other products mass-produced and shipped to China's coastal cities for export abroad. An Arab dhow dated to the 830s and today known as the
Belitung Shipwreck The Belitung shipwreck (also called the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck) is the wreck of an Arabian dhow which sank around 830 AD. The ship completed the outward journey from Arabia to China, but sank on the return journey from China, app ...
was discovered off the small island of Belitung, Indonesia with more than 60,000 pieces in its cargo. The salvaged cargo is today housed in nearby Singapore. Hunan's climate is
subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
, and, under the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, is classified as being
humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(Köppen ''Cfa''), with short, cool, damp winters, very hot and humid summers, and plenty of rainfall. January temperatures average while July temperatures average around . Average annual precipitation is . The
Furongian The Furongian is the fourth and final epoch and series of the Cambrian. It lasted from to million years ago. It succeeds the Miaolingian series of the Cambrian and precedes the Lower Ordovician Tremadocian Stage. It is subdivided into three sta ...
Epoch in the
Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
Period of geological time is named for Hunan; Furong () means " lotus" in Mandarin and refers to Hunan which is known as the "lotus state".


Administrative divisions

Hunan is divided into fourteen prefecture-level divisions: thirteen
prefecture-level cities A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...
and an
autonomous prefecture 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 ...
-level divisions of Hunan are subdivided into 122
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
-level divisions (35
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
s, 17
county-level cities A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...
, 63 counties, 7
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 ...
). Those are in turn divided into 2587
township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
-level divisions (1098
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
s, 1158
township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
s, 98
ethnic township The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
s, 225
subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, In ...
s, and eight
district public office The term ''district'', in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China. In the modern context, district (), formally city-governed district, city-controlled district, or mun ...
s). At the year end of 2017, the total population is 68.6 millio


Urban areas


Politics

The politics of Hunan is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in
mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. The
Governor of Hunan The Politics of Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The Governor of Hunan is the highest-ranking official in the People's Governme ...
is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Hunan. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Hunan
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
Provincial Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Hunan CCP Party Chief".


Economy

As of the mid 19th century, Hunan exported
rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...
, musk, honey, tobacco,
hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...
, and birds. The
Lake Dongting Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake ...
area is an important center of
ramie Ramie (pronounced: , ; from Malay ) is a flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern Asia. It is a herbaceous perennial growing to tall;
production, and Hunan is also an important center of tea cultivation. Aside from agricultural products, in recent years Hunan has grown to become an important center for steel, machinery and electronics production, especially as China's manufacturing sector moves away from coastal provinces such as
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
and
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
. The
Lengshuijiang Lengshuijiang () is a county-level city in Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Loudi prefecture-level City. Located in central Hunan, the city is bordered to the north and west by Xinhua County, to the south by Xinshao County, ...
area is noted for its
stibnite Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral with the formula Sb2 S3. This soft grey material crystallizes in an orthorhombic space group. It is the most important source for the metalloid antimony. The name is derived from the ...
mines, and is one of the major centers of
antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...
extraction in China. Hunan is also well known for a few global makers of construction equipment such as
concrete pumps A concrete pump is a machine used for transferring liquid concrete by pumping. There are different types of concrete pumps. A common type of concrete pump for large scale construction projects is known as a boom concrete pump, because it uses ...
, cranes, etc. These companies include
Sany Group Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational heavy equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Changsha, Hunan. It is the 3rd-largest heavy equipment manufacturer in the world, and the first in its industry in China to ente ...
,
Zoomlion Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd. is a Chinese construction machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer.Sunward. Sany is one of the world's major players. The city of
Liuyang Liuyang () is a county-level city, the most populous and the easternmost county-level division of Hunan Province, China; it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Changsha, the provincial capital. Located on the northeaste ...
is the world's top center for manufacturing
fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
. Hunan is the 9th-largest provincial economy of China, the third largest in the
Central China Central China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that includes the provinces of Henan, Hubei and Hunan. Jiangxi is sometimes also regarded to be part of this region. Central China is now officially part of South Central ...
region after
Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
and
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
, the fourth largest in the
South Central China South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by State Council that includes the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Hen ...
region after
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, Henan and Hubei and the fourth largest among inland provinces after Henan,
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
and Hubei. As of 2021, Hunan's
nominal GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...
was US$ 724 billion (CNY 4.6 trillion), appearing in the world's top 20 largest sub-national economies with its GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) being over US$1.1 trillion, and its GDP (nominal) per capita exceeded US$10,900 (69,300 CNY), making it the 2nd richest in the
Central China Central China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that includes the provinces of Henan, Hubei and Hunan. Jiangxi is sometimes also regarded to be part of this region. Central China is now officially part of South Central ...
region after Hubei and the 3rd richest in
South Central China South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by State Council that includes the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Hen ...
region after Guangdong and Hubei. As of 2020, Hunan's GDP (nominal) was US$ 605 billion, making it larger than the economies of Poland (the 22nd biggest in the world), Thailand (the 2nd largest in ASEAN), and Nigeria (the largest in Africa).


Economic and technological development zones

*
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
National Economic and Technical Development Zone The Changsha National Economic and Technology Development Zone was founded in 1992. It is located east of Changsha. The total planned area is and the current area is . Near the zone is National Highways G319 and G107 as well as Jingzhu Highway. Besides that, it is very close to the downtown and the railway station. The distance between the zone and the airport is . The major industries in the zone include high-tech industry, biology project technology and new material industry. * Changsha National New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone * Chenzhou Export Processing Zone Approved by the State Council, Chenzhou Export processing Zone (CEPZ) was established in 2005 and is the only export processing zone in Hunan province. The scheduled production area of CEPZ covers 3km2. The industrial positioning of CEPZ is to concentrate on developing export-oriented hi-tech industries, including electronic information, precision machinery, and new-type materials. The zone has good infrastructure, and the enterprises inside could enjoy the preferential policies of tax-exemption, tax-guarantee and tax-refunding. By the end of the " Eleventh Five-Year Plan", the CEPZ achieved a total export and import volume of over US$1 billion and provided more than 50,000 jobs. It aimed to be one of the first-class export processing zones in China. *
Zhuzhou Zhuzhou (, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is part of the " Greater Chan ...
National New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone Zhuzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was founded in 1992. Its total planned area is . It is very close to National Highway G320. The major industries in the zone include biotechnology, food processing and heavy industry. In 2007, the park signed a cooperation contract with Beijing Automobile Industry, one of the largest auto makers in China, which will set up a manufacturing base in Zhuzhou HTP.


Demographics

As of the 2000
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, the population of Hunan is 64,400,700 consisting of forty-one
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
s. Its population grew 6.17% (3,742,700) from its 1990 levels. According to the census, 89.79% (57,540,000) identified themselves as
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
and 10.21% (6,575,300) as
minority group The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
s. The minority groups are Tujia,
Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...
, Dong, Yao, Bai,
Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
, Zhuang,
Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
and so on. In Hunan, ethnic minority languages are spoken in the following prefectures. *
Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (; Tujia: Xianxxix bifzivkar befkar zifzifzoux; Miao: Xangdxid tutjadcul maolcul zibzhibzhoud) is an autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China. It is located in northwestern Hunan provin ...
:
Qo Xiong language The Xong language ( ) is the northernmost Hmongic language, spoken in south-central China by around 0.9 million people. It is called (, "Western Hunan Miao") in Chinese. In Western sources, it has been called Eastern Miao, Meo, Red Miao a ...
,
Tujia language The Tujia language (Northern Tujia: Bifzivsar, ; Southern Tujia: Mongrzzirhof, ; ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken natively by the Tujia people in Hunan Province, China. It is unclassified within the Sino-Tibetan language family, due to pervasi ...
*
Huaihua Huaihua () is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Hunan province, China. It covers and is bordered by Xiangxi to the northwest, Zhangjiajie and Changde to the north, Yiyang, Loudi and Shaoyang to the east, Guilin and Liuzhou of Guangxi ...
:
Qo Xiong language The Xong language ( ) is the northernmost Hmongic language, spoken in south-central China by around 0.9 million people. It is called (, "Western Hunan Miao") in Chinese. In Western sources, it has been called Eastern Miao, Meo, Red Miao a ...
,
Dong language Dong may refer to: * Dong language (China), a Kra–Dai language of China * Dong language (Nigeria) Dong, or Donga, is a poorly documented language in Nigeria. Though clearly Niger–Congo, it is difficult to classify; British linguist Roger Bl ...
,
Hm Nai language Hm Nai (Mandarin: Wunai (唔奈 ''Wúnài''), Cantonese: Ng-nai) is a Hmong-Mien language (Chinese: ''Miao-Yao'' 苗瑶) spoken in western Hunan province, China. There are approximately 5800 people speaking this language, and the number is decrea ...
,
Hmu language The Hmu language (''hveb Hmub''), also known as Qiandong Miao (黔东, Eastern Guizhou Miao), Central Miao, East Hmongic, or (somewhat ambiguously) Black Miao, is a dialect cluster of Hmongic languages of China. The best studied dialect is that ...
*
Shaoyang Shaoyang (), formerly named Baoqing (Paoking) (), is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Hunan province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It has a history of 2500 years and remains an important commercial and transportation city in Hunan ...
: Maojia language,
Hm Nai language Hm Nai (Mandarin: Wunai (唔奈 ''Wúnài''), Cantonese: Ng-nai) is a Hmong-Mien language (Chinese: ''Miao-Yao'' 苗瑶) spoken in western Hunan province, China. There are approximately 5800 people speaking this language, and the number is decrea ...
,
Pa-Hng language Pa-Hng (also spelled Pa-Hung; ''Bāhēng yǔ'') is a divergent Hmongic (Miao) language spoken in Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan in southern China as well as northern Vietnam. Classification Pa-Hng has long been recognized as divergent. Benedict ( ...
*
Yongzhou Yongzhou, formerly known as Lingling, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Hunan province, People's Republic of China, located on the southern bank of the Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, and b ...
: Mien language,
Biao Min language Biao Min, or Biao-Jiao Mien, is a Hmong–Mien language of China. The two varieties, Biao Min and Jiaogong Mian, are evidently not mutually intelligible. Distribution Ethnologue reports the Biao Min language to be spoken in the following counti ...
*
Chenzhou Chenzhou () is a prefecture-level city located in the south of Hunan province, China, bordering the provinces of Jiangxi to the east and Guangdong to the south. Its administrative area covers , 9.2% of the provincial area, and its total populatio ...
:
Dzao Min language Dzao Min (, Zao Min), is a Hmong–Mien language of China. Mao (2004:306) reports a total of more than 60,000 speakers in Liannan County and Yangshan County of Guangdong, and in Yizhang County of Hunan. The speakers from Bapai, Guangdong are al ...


Hunanese Uyghurs

Around 5,000 Uyghurs live around
Taoyuan County Taoyuan County () is under the administration of Changde, Hunan, Hunan Province, China. The Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze, flows through Taoyuan. It covers an area of 4441 square kilometers, of which is arable land. It is from Zhangji ...
and other parts of
Changde Changde ( ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. In addition to the urban districts, Changde also administers the county-level city of Jinshi City, Jinshi and six counties. Changde is adjacent ...
.
Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
and Uyghurs have intermarried in this area. In addition to eating pork, the Uygurs of Changde practice other Han Chinese customs, like
ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
at graves. Some Uyghurs from
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
visit the Hunan Uyghurs out of curiosity or interest. The Uyghurs of Hunan do not speak the
Uyghur language The Uyghur or Uighur language (; , , , or , , , , CTA: Uyğurçä; formerly known as Eastern Turki), is a Turkic language written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script with 8-11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xin ...
, instead, Chinese is spoken as their native language.


Religion

The predominant religions in Hunan are
Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
, Taoist traditions and
Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
s. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 20.19% of the population believes and is involved in
ancestor veneration The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
, while 0.77% of the population identifies as Christian. The reports didn't give figures for other types of religion; 79.04% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism,
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
, Taoism, folk religious sects. In 2010, there are 118.799
Muslims 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 Abraha ...
in Hunan File:Puguang chansi 0152.jpg, Puguang Buddhist Temple in
Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili a ...
. File:Confucius Temple of Liuyang 01.jpg,
Temple of Confucius A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of t ...
in
Liuyang Liuyang () is a county-level city, the most populous and the easternmost county-level division of Hunan Province, China; it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Changsha, the provincial capital. Located on the northeaste ...
. File:Hunan traditional temple front.jpg, An
ancestral shrine An ancestral shrine, hall or temple ( or , vi, Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestra ...
in the province.


Notable people

*
Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan, Marquis Yiyong (; 26 November 1811 – 12 March 1872), birth name Zeng Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan, was a Chinese statesman and military general of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for raising and organizing the Xiang A ...
(1811–1872) *
Cai E Cai E (; 18 December 1882 – 8 November 1916) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and general. He was born Cai Genyin () in Shaoyang, Hunan, and his courtesy name was Songpo (). Cai eventually became an influential warlord in Yunnan (Yunnan ...
(1882–1916), Chinese revolutionary leader, General and Governor of
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
(1911-1913) * Jiang Xiaowan (?–1922), interpreter *
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
(1893–1976) *
Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...
(born 1950) *
Yuet-ching Lee Yuet-ching Lee () (1918 – 1997) was a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Lee is credited with over 300 films. Career In 1937, Lee began acting in Hong Kong. Lee's early films include ''Producing Citizens'', a 1937 film directed by Lee Fa, and ' ...
(1918–1997), Hong Kong actress *
Ted Hui Ted Hui Chi-fung ( zh, t=許智峯; born 8 June 1982) is a Hong Kong politician. He formerly represented the Chung Wan constituency in the Central and Western District Council, and formerly he was the Legislative Councillor for the Hong Kong ...
(born 1982), Hong Kong politician


Culture

Hunan's culture industry generated 87 billion yuan (US$11.76 billion) in economic value in 2007, and is major contributor to the province's economic growth. The industry accounts for 7.5 percent of the region's GDP.


Language

Xiang Chinese Xiang or Hsiang (; ); Changsha Xiang: ''sian1 y3'', also known as Hunanese (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages, spoken mainly in Hunan province but also in northern Guangxi and parts of neighborin ...
() is the eponymous variety of Chinese spoken in Hunan. There are several varieties of Xiang Chinese, such as
New Xiang New Xiang, also known as Chang-Yi (长益片 / 長益片) is the dominant form of Xiang Chinese. It is spoken in northeastern areas of Hunan, China adjacent to areas where Southwestern Mandarin and Gan are spoken. Under their influence, it has los ...
,
Old Xiang Old Xiang, also known as Lou-Shao (娄邵片 / 婁邵片), is a conservative Xiang Chinese language. It is spoken in the central areas of Hunan where it has been to some extent isolated from the neighboring Chinese languages, Southwestern Mandarin ...
, and
Hengzhou Xiang Hengzhou may refer to: * Hengzhou (横州市), a city in Nanning, Guangxi, China * Hengzhou, Hebei (恒州镇), a town in Quyang County, Hebei, China *Roman Catholic Diocese of Hengzhou, in the ecclesiastical province of Changsha in China Historic ...
. In addition to Xiang Chinese, there are also other dialects and languages present, such as
Southwestern Mandarin Southwestern Mandarin (), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (), is a Mandarin Chinese language spoken in much of Southwest China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the northe ...
,
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
, Waxiang, and
Xiangnan Tuhua Xiangnan Tuhua (), or simply Tuhua, is an unclassified Chinese variety of southeastern Hunan. It is spoken throughout most of Yongzhou prefecture (apart from Qiyang County in the northeast) and in the western half of Chenzhou prefecture, in whi ...
.
Nü shu Radical 38 or radical woman () meaning "woman" or "female" is one of the 31 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals total) composed of three strokes. In the ''Kangxi Dictionary'', there are 681 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical. i ...
, a writing system for Xiangnan Tuhua, is used exclusively among women in
Jiangyong County Jiangyong County () is a county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Yongzhou prefecture-level City. Located on the south margin of the province, it is bordered on the west by Guangxi. The county is bordered to the northea ...
and neighboring areas in southern Hunan.


Cuisine

Hunanese cuisine is noted for its near-ubiquitous use of
chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
s,
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...
, and
shallot The shallot is a botanical variety (a cultivar) of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with ''Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the d ...
s. These ingredients give rise to a distinctive dry-and-spicy () taste, with dishes such as smoked cured ham, and stir-fried spicy beef being prime examples of the flavor.


Music

Huaguxi The flower-drum opera or Huaguxi () is a form of Chinese opera originating in Hunan province. Some other provinces, such as Hubei, Anhui, Henan, Shanxi, also have Huaguxi. It is known in China for its earthy quality, and is often referred to as t ...
is a local form of
Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
that is very popular in Hunan province.


Tourism

Located in the south central part of the Chinese mainland, Hunan has long been known for its natural environment. It is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River on the north. For thousands of years, the region has been a major center of agriculture, growing rice, tea, and oranges. China's first all glass suspension bridge was also opened in Hunan, in
Shiniuzhai National Geological Park Shiniuzhai National Geological Park or Pingjiang Shiniuzhai Geopark (石牛寨) is located in Hunan, in Pingjiang County. It is 46 km away from the nearest city of Pingjiang. Shi Nui Zhai is 523 meters above sea level, and occupies a radius ...
. *
Wulingyuan Wulingyuan (, zh, c=武陵源) is a scenic and historical site in the Wulingyuan District of South Central China's Hunan Province. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. It is noted for more than 3,000 quartzite sandstone pi ...
is a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
and a 5A Scenic Area. Located in south-central Hunan, Wulingyuan is noted for its thousands of
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
pillars, caves, and waterfalls. The area also contains
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Zhangjiajie National Forest Park () is a national forest park located in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China. It is one of several national parks within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area. History In 1982, the park was recognized as China's first nati ...
. * Shaoshan County, known for being the birthplace of Mao Zedong *
Yueyang Tower Yueyang Tower () is an ancient Chinese tower in Yueyang, Hunan Province, on the shore of Lake Dongting. Alongside the Pavilion of Prince Teng and Yellow Crane Tower, it is one of the Three Great Towers of Jiangnan. Yueyang Tower became famous ...
, on the shores of
Lake Dongting Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake ...
, was built in the
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 ...
and Jin dynasties, and has existed in its current state since the
Qing Dynasty 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-speak ...
. Alongside the
Pavilion of Prince Teng The Pavilion of Prince Teng () is a building in the North West of the city of Nanchang, in Jiangxi province, China, on the east bank of the Gan River and is one of the Three Great Towers of southern China. The other two are the Yueyang Tower and ...
and
Yellow Crane Tower Yellow Crane Tower () is a traditional Chinese tower located in Wuhan. The current structure was built in 1981, but the tower has existed in various forms from as early as AD 223. The current Yellow Crane Tower is high and covers an area of . ...
, it is one of the Three Great Towers of
Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...
. * Mount Heng, in
Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 ...
, is one of the Five Great Mountains of China, and is home to the largest temple in southern China. *
Fenghuang County Fenghuang County (), named after the mythological birds ''Fenghuang'', is a county of Hunan Province, China, under the administration of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. Located on the western margin of the province and the southern Xiangxi, it i ...
, in
Xiangxi Prefecture Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (; Tujia: Xianxxix bifzivkar befkar zifzifzoux; Miao: Xangdxid tutjadcul maolcul zibzhibzhoud) is an autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China. It is located in northwestern Hunan provi ...
, has been placed on the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
Tentative List for its ancient town. Fenghuang is known for its incorporation of mountain features and water flow into city design, and the ancient syncretism between the local
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 ...
and
Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...
cultures.


Education and research

As of 2022, Hunan hosts 130 institutions of higher education, ranking sixth together with
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
(130) among all Chinese provinces after
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
(168),
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
(160),
Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
(156),
Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
(153), and
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
(134). Hunan is also the seat of 12 adult higher education institutions. Two major cities in Hunan (Changsha and
Xiangtan Xiangtan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hunan province, south-central China. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Chairman Mao Zedong, President Liu Shaoqi, and Marshal Peng Dehuai, ...
) were ranked in the top 500 cities in the world by scientific research output, as tracked by the
Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...
in 2017. There are three
national key universities National Key Universities () previously referred to universities recognized as prestigious and which received a high level of support from the central government of the People's Republic of China. The term is no longer in official use by 1990s. The ...
under
Project 985 Project 985 () was a terminated project that was first announced by General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin at the 100th anniversary of Peking University on May 4, 1998, to promote the development and reputation of the Ch ...
(
Hunan University Hunan University (HNU; ; pinyin: Húnán Dàxué''),'' colloquially abbreviated as HúDà (湖大), is a national key public research university located in Changsha, Hunan, and a Double First Class University as well as a member of Project 211 ...
,
Central South University Central South University (CSU; ) is a national public university in Changsha, Hunan, China. The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, China Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese state Double Fir ...
and the
National University of Defense Technology The National University of Defense Technology (NUDT; ) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Changsha, Hunan, China. Founded in 1953 as the People's Liberation Army Military Academy of Engineering, ...
) in Hunan, the third highest after
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
.
Hunan Normal University Hunan Normal University (), founded in 1938, is a public university in Changsha, Hunan Province. The university is the 211 Project university, one of the country's 100 national key universities in the 21st century that enjoy priority in obtain ...
in Changsha is the key construction university of the national
211 Project Project 211 () was an abolished project of developing comprehensive universities and colleges initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of China, with the intent of raising the research standards of comprehensive universities and cultivat ...
, and
Xiangtan University Xiangtan University (XTU; ) is a national key university located in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. It was founded in 1958 and is currently organized into 23 schools and departments. As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking, also known as the " ...
in
Xiangtan Xiangtan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hunan province, south-central China. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Chairman Mao Zedong, President Liu Shaoqi, and Marshal Peng Dehuai, ...
is a key university jointly built by Hunan Province and the Ministry of Education and a member of national Project 111. These five national key universities are included in the Double First-Class Universities of Hunan Province. Hunan University and Central South University are the only two universities in Changsha, Hunan to appear in the world's top 300 of the ''
Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
and the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking''. Hunan Normal University, the National University of Defense and Technology and
Changsha University of Science and Technology Changsha University of Science and Technology ( CSUST; ; Chinese abbr. 长沙理工) is located in Changsha, Hunan province, China. The university is a provincial key university of Hunan. As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking, also k ...
located in Changsha, were ranked in the world's top 701 of the ''
Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
''.
Hunan Agricultural University Hunan Agricultural University (, commonly referred to as HAU or Nongda) is a public research university located in Changsha, Hunan, China. Founded in 1951, the university was incorporated by two independent colleges under the name Hunan Agricult ...
in Changsha and
Hunan University of Technology Hunan University of Technology () is a university located in Zhuzhou, Hunan, China. As of April 2014, the university has five campuses, 37,907 students including 1,276 graduate students, and 1,793 faculty members. The university consists of 19 s ...
in
Zhuzhou Zhuzhou (, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is part of the " Greater Chan ...
were ranked in the top 901 globally of the 2022 ''
Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
.''
Hunan University of Science and Technology Hunan University of Science & Technology (HNUST) () is an institution of higher learning in Xiangtan, Hunan of China, under the jointly jurisdiction of central government and provincial government, and is mainly administered by Hunan Province. HN ...
in Xiangtan,
Xiangtan University Xiangtan University (XTU; ) is a national key university located in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. It was founded in 1958 and is currently organized into 23 schools and departments. As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking, also known as the " ...
and
Central South University of Forestry and Technology Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT; ) is a university located in Changsha, Hunan, China. The university covers a total area of 2,230 mu, with more than 101.3 square meters of floor space. As of fall 2013, the universit ...
in Changsha were ranked # 988, # 1024 and # 1429 respectively in the 2022 Best Global Universities by ''the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking.''
Hunan University of Chinese Medicine Hunan University of Chinese Medicine () is a public university located in Changsha, Hunan province, China. The university offers courses in Traditional Chinese Medicine. As of 2022, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine is ranked the best in Hun ...
in Changsha ranked the best in Hunan and 33rd nationwide among Chinese Medical Universities.


National key public universities

*
Central South University Central South University (CSU; ) is a national public university in Changsha, Hunan, China. The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, China Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese state Double Fir ...
(Project 211, Project 985, Double First Class University) *
Hunan University Hunan University (HNU; ; pinyin: Húnán Dàxué''),'' colloquially abbreviated as HúDà (湖大), is a national key public research university located in Changsha, Hunan, and a Double First Class University as well as a member of Project 211 ...
(Project 211, Project 985, Double First Class University) *
Hunan Normal University Hunan Normal University (), founded in 1938, is a public university in Changsha, Hunan Province. The university is the 211 Project university, one of the country's 100 national key universities in the 21st century that enjoy priority in obtain ...
(Project 211, Double First Class University) *
National University of Defense Technology The National University of Defense Technology (NUDT; ) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Changsha, Hunan, China. Founded in 1953 as the People's Liberation Army Military Academy of Engineering, ...
(Project 211, Project 985, Double First Class University) *
Xiangtan University Xiangtan University (XTU; ) is a national key university located in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. It was founded in 1958 and is currently organized into 23 schools and departments. As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking, also known as the " ...
(Project 111, Double First Class University)


Provincial key public universities

*
Central South University of Forestry and Technology Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT; ) is a university located in Changsha, Hunan, China. The university covers a total area of 2,230 mu, with more than 101.3 square meters of floor space. As of fall 2013, the universit ...
*
Changsha University of Science and Technology Changsha University of Science and Technology ( CSUST; ; Chinese abbr. 长沙理工) is located in Changsha, Hunan province, China. The university is a provincial key university of Hunan. As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking, also k ...
*
Hengyang Normal University Hengyang Normal University () is a university located in Hengyang, Hunan, China. As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking placed the university 15th in Hunan. History Hengyang Normal University was formed in 1904, it was initially calle ...
*
Hunan Agricultural University Hunan Agricultural University (, commonly referred to as HAU or Nongda) is a public research university located in Changsha, Hunan, China. Founded in 1951, the university was incorporated by two independent colleges under the name Hunan Agricult ...
*
Hunan First Normal University Hunan First Normal University (), founded in 1903, is a university located in Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan Province, China. Hunan First Normal University covers a total area of 1346 mu, with more than 420,000 square meters of floor space. T ...
*
Hunan Institute of Science and Technology Hunan Institute of Science and Technology () is located besides the Lake Dongting at one of the most famous historic cities - Yueyang, Hunan, China, is the city's largest higher education institute offering a large variety of undergraduate level p ...
*
Hunan Institute of Engineering Hunan Institute of Engineering (HIE) () is located in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. It was founded in 1951 and is organized into 16 schools and departments. As of 2021, Hunan Institute of Engineering was ranked 371st in China and 768th globally by SCIm ...
* Hunan University of Technology and Commerce *
Hunan University of Chinese Medicine Hunan University of Chinese Medicine () is a public university located in Changsha, Hunan province, China. The university offers courses in Traditional Chinese Medicine. As of 2022, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine is ranked the best in Hun ...
*
Hunan University of Science and Technology Hunan University of Science & Technology (HNUST) () is an institution of higher learning in Xiangtan, Hunan of China, under the jointly jurisdiction of central government and provincial government, and is mainly administered by Hunan Province. HN ...
*
Hunan University of Technology Hunan University of Technology () is a university located in Zhuzhou, Hunan, China. As of April 2014, the university has five campuses, 37,907 students including 1,276 graduate students, and 1,793 faculty members. The university consists of 19 s ...
*
Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology (HUHST; ), established in 1978, is a state-owned provincial university of higher education approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education. It is located in Loudi, a newly built city in the cen ...
*
Jishou University Jishou University (; sometimes abbreviated as JSU) is a university located in Jishou, Hunan, China. The university consists of 23 colleges, with 71 specialties for undergraduates, 2 specialties for the second bachelor's degree. At present, the un ...
*
University of South China The University of South China () is a university in city Hengyang, Hunan, China. As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking, also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed the university the best in Hengyang and 8th in Hunan. History I ...
*
Shaoyang University Shaoyang University (; sometimes abbreviated as SYU) is a university located in Shaoyang, Hunan, in south central China. As of fall 2013, the university has 3 campuses, a combined student body of 17,112 students, 776 faculty members, 330 staff m ...


General undergraduate universities (public)

*
Changsha Normal University Changsha Normal University () is a university located in Changsha, Hunan, China. As of fall 2013, the university has two campuses, a combined student body of 10,000 students, 600 faculty members. The university consists of 10 departments, wi ...
*
Changsha University Changsha University (CCSU; ) is located in Changsha, Hunan, central south of China. Changsha University, or Changsha college, is authorized by the Ministry of Education May 2004. Reconstruction and update based on Changsha University status (speci ...
*
Hunan University of Finance and Economics The Hunan University of Finance and Economics () is a university located in Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan, China. As of 2021, Hunan University of Finance and Economics ranked 2nd in Hunan and 43th nationwide among universities specialized i ...
*
Hunan Police Academy Hunan Police Academy () is a university located in Changsha, Hunan, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populou ...
*
Hunan Women's University Hunan Women's University () is a university located in Yuhua District, Changsha, Hunan, China. As of fall 2013, the university has one campus, a combined student body of 9,500 students, 524 faculty members. The university consists of 4 colle ...
*
Hunan Institute of Technology Hunan Institute of Technology () is a university located in Hengyang, Hunan, 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. ...
*
Hunan University of Science and Engineering Hunan University of Science and Engineering () is a university located in Yongzhou, Hunan, China. The university consists of 16 departments, with 38 specialties for undergraduates. History Hunan University of Science and Engineering was formed in ...
* Xiangtan Institute of Technology


General undergraduate universities (private)

*
Changsha Medical University Changsha Medical University/College (CSMU, ) is the first private medical undergraduate institution in China, located in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. Changsha Medical University/College, China's governmental medical university for undergraduat ...
*
Hunan International Economics University Hunan International Economics University () is a private university located in Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan, China. As of fall 2013, the university has one campus, a combined student body of 26,158 students and 1,614 faculty members. Th ...
*
Hunan Institute of Information Technology Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...
*
Hunan Institute of Traffic Engineering Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...
*
Hunan Applied Technology University Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, prov ...


Vocational and technical colleges/universities

*
Changsha Aeronautical Vocational and Technical College Changsha Aeronautical Vocational and Technical College () is a university located in Changsha, Hunan, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and depend ...
*
Changsha Social Work College Changsha Social Work Technical College () is a technical college located in Changsha, Hunan, China. It was established in 1984. The college became one of the first one to launch a senior care program in China in 1999. Rankings As of 2023, Cha ...
*
Hunan Software Vocational College Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, prov ...


Transport


Airports

There are several airports in Hunan provinces, including
Changsha Huanghua International Airport Changsha Huanghua International Airport is the airport serving Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, China, and the Greater Changsha Metropolitan Region comprising the nearby cities of Zhuzhou and Xiangtan. As of 2021, it was one of the ...
,
Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport () is an airport serving Zhangjiajie, Hunan, People's Republic of China . The airport is located in Huhua village in Yongding District of Zhangjiajie. It is the second largest airport in Hunan, after Chang ...
,
Changde Taohuayuan Airport Changde Taohuayuan Airport is an airport in Changde, a city in the Hunan province of China. Airlines and destinations See also *List of airports in China This is a list of public airports in the People's Republic of China grouped by prov ...
, Chenzhou Beihu Airport,
Huaihua Zhijiang Airport Huaihua Zhijiang Airport is an airport serving the city of Huaihua in Hunan Province, China. It is located in Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, 31 kilometers from the city center. The airport was built in 1942 and was the second largest military ...
,
Shaoyang Wugang Airport Shaoyang Wugang Airport is an airport serving the city of Shaoyang in Hunan Province, China. It is located north of Wugang, a county-level city under the administration of Shaoyang, and from the urban center of Shaoyang. The airport receive ...
, Yongzhou Lingling Airport, and Yueyang Sanhe Airport. The busiest airports serve domestic and international flights for Hunan, including Changsha Huanghua International Airport, Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport and Changde Taohuayuan Airport. Notably, as of 2021, Changsha Huanghua International Airport was one of the 50 busiest airports in the world, the 12th busiest civil airport in China, the second busiest in
South Central China South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by State Council that includes the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Hen ...
after
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is the major airport of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in Southern China. Both airport codes were inherited from the former Baiyun Airport, and the IATA code is derived from Guangzhou's historical romani ...
and the busiest in
Central China Central China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that includes the provinces of Henan, Hubei and Hunan. Jiangxi is sometimes also regarded to be part of this region. Central China is now officially part of South Central ...
.


Railways

The
Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway The Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway or Jingguangshengang high-speed railway from its Chinese name is a high-speed railway corridor of the China Railway High-speed, CRH passenger service, connecting Beijing West rail ...
passes through Hunan.


Sports

Professional sports teams in Hunan include: * Chinese Football Association League One **
Hunan Billows F.C. Hunan Billows Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the China League Two division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changsha, Hunan and their home stadium is t ...


See also

*
Major national historical and cultural sites in Hunan Major (Commandant (rank), commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with ...
*
Xiaoxiang Xiaoxiang (), also transliterated ''XiaoXiang'', ''Hsiao Hsiang'', and ''Chiu Chiang'', in some older sources, refers to the "lakes and rivers" region in south-central China south of the middle-reaches of the Yangtze River and corresponding, more ...
, the "lakes and rivers" region of south-central China *
State of Chu Chu, or Ch'u in Wade–Giles romanization, (, Hanyu Pinyin: Chǔ, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was a Zhou dynasty vassal state. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou hea ...
, ancient Chinese state partly in modern-day Hunan *
Hunanese people The Hunanese people or Xiang-speaking Chinese (; Xiang Chinese: 湘語人 Shiōn'nỳ nin) are a Xiang-speaking Han Chinese ethnic subgroup originating from Hunan province in Southern China, but Xiang-speaking people are also found in the adjac ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Hunan Government website
*

at
HKTDC The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 as the international marketing dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. The organisation has 50 offices around the world, includin ...

History of Hunanese
, the first book on the history of Hunanese(Phoelanese) civilization and nation from the perspective of we the hunanese (phoelanese) people. {{Authority control . Provinces of the People's Republic of China