Jilin

Jilin is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west.
Along with the rest of Northeast China, Jilin underwent an early period of industrialization. However, Jilin's economy, characterized by heavy industry, has been facing economic difficulties with privatization. This prompted the central government to undertake a campaign called "Revitalize the Northeast". The region contains large deposits of oil shale.

Name

The name "Jilin" originates from girin ula, a Manchu phrase meaning "along the river", shortened to Kirin in English. This Manchu term was transcribed into jilin wula in Chinese characters and shortened the first two characters, which are transcribed in English as Chi-lin and later "Jilin".

History

In ancient times, Jilin was inhabited by the Xianbei, Sushen, the Mohe, Jurchens, and the Wùjí. The kingdoms of Buyeo and Goguryeo ruled parts of this area.
The region then fell successively under the domination of the Xiongnu, Xianbei state, Goguryeo, Balhae, Khitan Liao Dynasty, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, and the Mongol Yuan dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, much of the area was under the control of the General of Jilin, whose area of control extended to encompass much of what is Russia's Primorsky Krai today.
After the Primorsky Krai area was ceded to Russia in 1860, the government began to open the area up to Han Chinese migrants, most of whom came from Shandong. By the beginning of the 20th century, Han Chinese had become the dominant ethnic group of the region. In 1932, the area was incorporated into Manchukuo, a puppet state set up by Japan. Changchun, capital of Jilin today, was made the capital of Manchukuo. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, the Red Army captured Jilin after Operation August Storm. The region, with the rest of northeastern China, was ceded to the Communists by the Soviet Union. Manchuria was the staging ground from which the communists eventually conquered the rest of China in the Chinese Civil War.
In 1949, Jilin province was smaller, encompassing only the environs of Changchun and Jilin City, and the capital was at Jilin City, while Changchun was a municipality independent from the province. In the 1950s, Jilin was expanded to its present borders. During the Cultural Revolution, Jilin was expanded again to include a part of Inner Mongolia, giving it a border with the independent state of Mongolia, though this was later reversed.
In recent times Jilin has, with the rest of heavy industry-based Northeast China, been facing economic difficulties with privatization. This prompted the central government to undertake a campaign called "Revitalize the Northeast".

Geography

Jilin lies in the central part of northeastern China, bordering Russia and North Korea in the east and southeast respectively. Jilin has an area of and a population of 24 million. Its capital is Changchun, which lies west of Jilin City. Jilin is rich in natural mineral deposits with 136 types of minerals, of which 70 have been extracted. Jilin has an abundance of Traditional Chinese medicine resources, with approximately 27,000 kinds of wild plants and 9,000 kinds of medicinal herbs.
The province is rich in large reserves of oil, gas, coal, iron, nickel, molybdenum, talc, graphite, gypsum, cement rock, gold and silver; its reserves of oil shale are the largest in the country.
Jilin is highest in altitude in the southeast and drops gently towards the northwest. The Changbai Mountains run through its southeastern regions and contains the highest peak of the province, Paektu Mountain at. Other ranges include the Jilinhada Mountains, Zhang Guangcai Mountains, and Longgang Mountains.
Jilin is drained by the Yalu and Tumen rivers in the extreme southeast, by tributaries of the Liao River in the southwest, and by the Songhua and Nen rivers in the north, both eventually flowing into the Amur.
Jilin has a northerly continental monsoon climate, with long, cold winters and short, warm summers. Average January temperatures range from. Rainfall averages at.
Major cities in this province include Changchun, Jilin City, Baishan, Baicheng, Siping, Yanji, Songyuan, Tonghua and Liaoyuan.

Administrative divisions

Jilin consists of nine prefecture-level divisions: eight prefecture-level cities and one autonomous prefecture:
These nine prefecture-level divisions are in turn subdivided into 60 county-level divisions. These administrative divisions are explained in greater detail at Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. At the end of the year 2017, the total population is 27.17 million.

#	Cities	2020 Urban area	2010 Urban area	2020 City proper
1	Changchun	3,531,661	3,411,209	9,066,906
2	Jilin	1,326,640	1,469,722	3,623,713
3	Yanji	630,612	505,516	part of Yanbian Prefecture
4	Siping	485,710	509,107	1,814,733
5	Songyuan	480,769	464,999	2,252,994
6	Tonghua	408,403	476,792	1,812,114
7	Liaoyuan	407,296	385,049	996,903
8	Baishan	391,234	503,287	1,551,378
9	Gongzhuling	384,715	337,851	see Changchun
10	Meihekou	291,138	268,259	see Tonghua
11	Baicheng	263,667	359,492	968,373
12	Yushu	253,344	280,961	see Changchun
13	Dunhua	241,929	293,396	part of Yanbian Prefecture
14	Dehui	202,988	187,956	see Changchun
15	Hunchun	189,760	174,355	part of Yanbian Prefecture
16	Huadian	184,810	193,537	see Jilin
17	Shulan	176,692	254,850	see Jilin
18	Jiaohe	168,313	201,712	see Jilin
19	Panshi	163,592	228,004	see Jilin
20	Shuangliao	146,716	180,700	see Siping
21	Da'an	136,823	202,322	see Baicheng
22	Fuyu	124,874		see Songyuan
23	Taonan	115,946	164,976	see Baicheng
24	Longjing	96,972	122,065	part of Yanbian Prefecture
25	Linjiang	87,555	133,435	see Baishan
26	Ji'an	81,982	95,971	see Tonghua
27	Helong	80,419	112,337	part of Yanbian Prefecture
28	Tumen	71,023	109,342	part of Yanbian Prefecture
—	Jiutai	see Changchun	198,851	see Changchun

Politics

The politics of Jilin is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.
The Governor of Jilin is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Jilin. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Jilin Chinese Communist Party Provincial Committee Secretary.

Economy

In 2011, the nominal GDP of Jilin province totaled RMB 1053.1 billion. Its GDP has been rising at a double-digit rate since 2003, growing 51 percent from 2003 to 2007. Per capita nominal GDP increased to RMB 26,289 in 2009. Meanwhile, the incremental value and profit of large enterprises witnessed an increase of 19 percent and 30 percent respectively, compared with 2005 figures.
Jilin's agricultural production is centered upon rice, wheat, maize, and sorghum. Rice is mostly cultivated in the eastern parts, such as Yanbian Prefecture. The Changbai Mountains are an important source of lumber. Sheep herding is an important activity in the western parts, such as Baicheng.
Among its natural resources, Jilin has the largest reserves of shale oil and one of the top five largest mineral reserves in China. Compared to other provinces of China, Jilin has extensive deposits of Kieselguhr, wollastonite, floatstone, and molybdenum.
Industry in Jilin is concentrated on automobiles, train carriages, and iron alloy.
Jilin is one of the most important commodity grain bases in China and ranks 6th in timber production.
Traditionally, Jilin has been known as a major pharmaceutical center, with yields of ginseng and deer antlers among the largest in China, being used extensively in the field of Chinese medicine.

Economic and technological development zones

Jilin New and Hi-tech Industry Development Zone

The zone was founded in 1992 and is in Jilin city, covering of planned area with established. The leading industries in the zone are new materials, refined chemical products, integration of photoelectron and mechanism, electronics, medicine and bioengineering. A mere from Songhua Lake, the nearest bus and train stations are within.
The Jilin Economic and Technological Development Zone was founded in May 1998 and is in the northeast of Jilin city. The zone has a total planned area of. It is from Changchun, from Jilin Airport, and from Jilin Railway Station.
Major industries include refined chemicals, bioengineering, fine processing of chemical fiber, and farm products. It is divided into four parts: the Chemical Industrial Park, the Food Industrial Park, the Textile Industrial Park, and the Medical Industrial Park. The latter specializes in the development of traditional Chinese pharmaceuticals, mini molecule medicine, bio-pharmaceuticals and health products.