Shaannan () or Southern Shaanxi refers to the portion of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Shaanxi province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

south of the Qinling Mountains. Its name derives from the province's abbreviation "Shaan" () combined with the word "Nan" (, lit. "south"), its geographical location within the province. In the

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

, the area began to be merged with what is the

Guanzhong Plain Guanzhong (, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben str ...

to form Shaanxi province. The Qinling Mountains, as a geographic barrier, has also created major differences in climate, cultural traditions and

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

s between Shaannan and the other parts of Shaanxi, and thus there is some similarity between Shaannan and Sichuan.

Geography

The region is mountainous, and was historically part of the Ba–Shu region. It is geographically considered part of the

Sichuan Basin The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributar ...

's northern fringe and the three prefectural cities in the Shaannan region are mainly based along the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

s and

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

s of the Han River's

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

, all part of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

river system. The only exception is the

Luonan County Luonan County (, ''alternatively'' ) is a county under the administration of Shangluo city, in the east of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Henan province to the east. It has an area of and a population of 450,000 as of 2004. Luonan is at the s ...

in northern Shangluo, which is based around the upper Luo River and is part of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

system.

Cities

Hanzhong Hanzhong ( zh, s= , t= , l=middle of the Han River (Hubei), Han River; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in Southern Shaanxi, the southwest of Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gans ...

Ankang Ankang ( zh , c = 安康 , p = Ānkāng ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shaanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei province to the east, Chongqing municipality to the south, and Sichuan province to the s ...

* Shangluo

Culture

The Shaannan dialects belongs to the Northern Chinese group, and forms a transition between the Southwestern and Central Plains dialects. For the most part, the native dialects of Shaannan are divided into the Qinlong and

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben str ...

groups of the Central Plains dialect. The Sichuanese group of the Southwestern dialect are mostly "guest dialects" brought in by large influx of migrants from

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

and northern

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

during the early Ming and early

Qing dynasties The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

Transportation

National Roads: * G108 * G210 * G312 * G316 Expressways: * Xihan Expressway (Xi'an—Hanzhong) * Xikang Expressway (Xi'an—Ankang) Railways: * Xi'an–Ankang Railway *

Yangpingguan–Ankang Railway The Yangpingguan–Ankang railway or Yang'an railway (), is a single-track, electrified railroad in China between Yangpingguan and Ankang in southern Shaanxi Province. The line, in length, follows the upper reaches of the Han River and wa ...

* Xiangyang–Chongqing Railway

Geography

Cities

Culture

Transportation

See also