Guangxi

From Wikinfo

广西壮族自治区
Guǎngxī Zhu�ngz� Z�zh�qū
Gvangjsih Bouxcuengh Swcigi
Abbreviation: 桂 (pinyin: Gu�)
Image:China-Guangxi.png
Origin of Name	广 guǎng - region name 西 xī - west "western Guang"
Administration Type	Autonomous region
Capital and Largest City	Nanning
CPC Guangxi Committee Secretary	Cao Bochun
Chairman	Lu Bing
Area	236,700 km� (9th)
Population (2002) - Density	48,220,000 (10th) 204/km� (20th)
GDP (2002) - per capita	245.5 billion � (16th) 5092 � (29th)
Major Nationalities (2000)	Han - 62% Zhuang - 32% Yao - 3% Miao - 1% Dong - 0.7% Gelao - 0.4%
Prefecture-level divisions	14
County-level divisions	109
Township-level divisions	1396
ISO 3166-2	CN-45

Guangxi (simplified Chinese: 广西; traditional Chinese: 廣西; pinyin: Guǎngxī; Wade-Giles: Kuang-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangsi) is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its formal name is the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Together, Guangxi and Guangdong are called the "Two Guang" (兩廣 liǎng guǎng).

History

The region officially became part of China in 214 BC, when the army of the Qin Dynasty claimed most of the southern provinces, including Guangdong.

Administration

Guangxi is divided into 14 prefecture-level cities: Nanning, Guilin, Liuzhou, Wuzhou, Guigang, Yulin, Qinzhou, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Chongzuo, Baise, Hechi, Laibin, and Hezhou. These are subdivided into 56 counties, 34 districts, 12 ethnic autonomous counties and 7 county-level cities.

The capital of Guangxi is Nanning.

Geography

Located in the southern part of the country, Guangxi is bordered by Yunnan to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast, and Guangdong to the southeast, and by Vietnam and the Beibu Bay (South China Sea) to the southwest.

Major cities include: Nanning, Beihai, Guilin, Liuzhou.

Notable towns include: Longmen, Sanjiang, Yangshuo.

Economy

Demographics

The region has a high concentration of Zhuang. Over 90% of the Chinese Zhuang people inhabit this region. There is also a significant number of both Dong and Miao minority people. Other ethnic groups include: Yao, Hui, Yi and Shui.

Culture

Tourism

The major tourist attraction of Guangxi is Guilin, a town famed across China and the world for its spectacular setting by the Li river amongst severe karst peaks. It also used to be the capital of Guangxi, and Jingjiang Princes City, the old princes residence, is open to the public. South of Guilin down the river is the town of Yangshuo, which has become a favourite destination for foreign tourists, particularly backpackers.

Ethnic minorities native to Guangxi, such as the Zhuang and Dong, are also interesting for tourists. The northern part of the province, bordering with Guizhou, is home to the Longmen rice terraces, said to be some of the steepest in the world. Nearby Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County features unique Dong minority architecture.