Longnan

Longnan may also refer to Longnan County in Jiangxi province, China.

Longnan
Prefecture-level city
Chinese transcription(s)
• Characters	陇南
• Pinyin	Lǒngnán
Location of Longnan Prefecture (yellow) within Gansu
Country	China
Province	Gansu
City seat	Wudu District
Area
• Total	27,000 km2 (10,000 sq mi)
Population
• Total	2,676,100
• Density	99/km2 (260/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code	742500
Area code	0939
Website	http://www.longnan.gov.cn/

Longnan (simplified Chinese: 陇南; pinyin: Lǒngnán) is a prefecture-level city in China's Gansu province.

Geography and climate

Longnan is in southern Gansu province bordering Shaanxi in the east and Sichuan in the south. It is called Gansu's southern gateway and China's gateway to the northwest. The major geographic features in Longnan are the Qinba Mountains in the east, the Loess Plateau in the north, and the Tibetan Plateau in the west. It is part of the Central Han basin in the east and the Sichuan basin in the south. Elevations range from 800 to 4200 meters above sea level. The three major rivers in Longnan are the Bailong (白龙江), the Baishui (白水江), and the Jialing (嘉陵江). Besides these major rivers there are more than 3800 streams and creeks. The annual flow from all of these rivers and streams is more than 28 billion m³.

Average temperatures for most of the area range between 10 °C and 15 °C. Annual precipitation is 400 to 1000 mm. There are between 160~280 frost free days. Annually, there are an average of 1,600 sunlight hours.

The area is 27,000 km².

History

Longnan was settled at least 7000 years ago. Between 5000 and 6000 years ago, civilizations developed along the Xihanshui (西汉水) and the Bailong (白龙江) rivers. Anping in Wudu as well as Li County both have ancient ruins. Longnan is very important in Chinese history and is considered the cradle of the Qin Dynasty; the dynasty that would unite China as a whole for the first time. Wudu County was even founded in the Qin dynasty. It is common to still find Qin dynasty artifacts including pottery, bronzes, and coins.

Administration

Longnan has 1 urban districts, 8 counties, 242 towns, and 3243 villages with a total population of 2,676,100.

City districts:

• Wudu District (武都区)

Counties:

• Cheng County (成县)
• Kang County (康县)
• Li County (礼县)
• Xihe County (西和县)
• Dangchang County (宕昌县)
• Wen County (文县)
• Liangdang County (两当县)
• Hui County (徽县)

Economy

In 2004 Longnan's GDP was 6,338,000 RMB; 12% growth over the previous year.

Important agricultural products include cereals and grains, Chinese medicinal herbs, vegetable oil, fruits, nuts, berries, and vegetables.

Coal, copper, lead, zinc, petroleum, gold, and are all major mineral resources for Longnan. Cement and other building materials are also produced here.

Flora and fauna

Longnan has more than 1300 species of trees and shrubs, 1300 plants and herbs used for Chinese medicine, 100 wild fruits and berries, and 300 species of animals, many species of which are protected.

External links

• Official Website(Chinese)