Fujian
[key], province, c.48,000 sq mi (124,352 sq km), SE China, on Taiwan
Strait. The capital is Fuzhou. The
climate is warm and very moist, the terrain mostly hilly or mountainous. Of
the many ports on the heavily indented coast, Xiamen, the only one that can
accommodate large vessels, handles most of the trade, although there is some
at Fuzhou. Other harbors are undeveloped. About a tenth of the land is
arable. Rice, sweet potatoes, wheat, and tea are grown in the uplands, and
fruit, silk, and jute are produced in the lowlands. The coastal region from
Xiamen to Fuzhou is a major sugar-producing area. The chief oil-producing
seed is rapeseed, but peanuts and soybeans are also grown. There is some
tobacco, and the extensive forests on the mountains provide considerable
lumber (fir, pine, rosewood, bamboo), camphor, and wood oils. Fishing off
the island-strewn coast is important. The mineral resources are iron ore,
copper, gold, graphite, kaolin, and manganese; coal reserves are poor. The
industries are light; most important are lumbering and woodworking, tea
processing, sugar refining, salt panning, and the manufacturing of textiles,
cement, iron and steel, ceramics, and processed foods, including preserved
fruits, for which the province has long been famous. Since 1979, special
economic zones have been established at Xiamen and Fuzhou in order to
stimulate foreign investment and trade. The rugged, mountainous terrain
until recently retarded the building of roads or railroads; lines of
communication from the hinterland were chiefly the narrow rivers, which rise
in the mountains and flow eastward to the sea. The Min, the most important,
flows southeast, emptying below Fuzhou. Chinese painters have often depicted
its gorges and the surrounding hills. Because so many of its localities were
long isolated, Fujian has perhaps the largest number of dialects of any
province (over 100). The people are diverse. Most derive from local Chinese
stocks, but many are descendants of ancient Hakka migrants from the northern
provinces or of non-Chinese aborigines. The people of Fujian have long been
faced with an inadequate food supply, aggravated by the continual
immigration of N Chinese fleeing floods and droughts. Since the 17th cent.,
the people of Fujian have emigrated in large numbers, chiefly to SE Asia;
together with Guangdong prov., Fujian has provided the majority of overseas
Chinese. Strategically located opposite the island of Taiwan, the location
of the Nationalist Chinese government, Fujian has (since 1950) maintained
large numbers of troops. Fujian's former economic base of trade with Taiwan
has changed, prompting an improvement in internal communications by rail and
road and new emphasis on agricultural production. A rail line now links
Fujian with Jiangxi prov. and the Chinese transportation net.
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