Henan is located in the middle and east of China, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. It is bounded by 3123'-36 22' north latitude and10 265438'-16 39' east longitude, and borders Anhui and Shandong in the north. Because it was Yuzhou in ancient times, it was called Yu for short. Henan has a superior geographical position. In ancient times, it was the only place for post roads and water transportation, and the place where merchants gathered.
Henan is located in the transition zone from the second step to the third step in China. To the north of the Yellow River, there is Taihang Mountain which runs northeast and southwest, and to the south of the Yellow River, there are hills, Xiong 'er Mountain, Funiu Mountain and Waifangshan which extend eastward from the Qinling Mountains. The channel connecting east and west is the Yellow River basin, which can be traced back to Guanzhong and directly to northwest and west Asia. The famous Silk Road extends eastward through the Yellow River Basin, and the second Eurasian Continental Bridge (Longhai Line and Lanxin Line), an important traffic artery in modern times, also passes through this passage. The north-south passage is also opened at the junction of mountains and plains, such as the famous Nanxiang passage in ancient times, the modern Beijing-Guangzhou line and the Beijing-Shenzhen Expressway. As far as administrative regions and traffic conditions are concerned, Henan is in the middle position. With Henan as the center, Heilongjiang in the north, the Pearl River Basin in the south, the foot of Tianshan Mountain in the west and the coast of the East China Sea in the east, most of them span two or three provinces and regions. If we take Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, as the center, Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu in the north, Wuhan three towns in the south, Guanzhong Plain in the west, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou in the east, the straight-line distance is mostly between 600 and 800 kilometers. The geographical position of Henan connecting the east with the west and connecting the north and the south determines its important position in the national economic and social activities. Historically, Henan is the only place where people of all ethnic groups pass from south to north and from west to east. It is also a place where people of all ethnic groups have frequent activities and close contacts. Therefore, the ancients said, "He who wins the Central Plains wins the world" and "He who wins the world fights for it". Nowadays, Henan's three vertical and four horizontal railway networks, expressway extending in all directions, and the continuous development of air transport have further strengthened its position as a transportation hub. National key projects such as the West-East Gas Transmission Project and the South-to-North Water Transfer Project have been completed one after another, and Henan is still one of the centers of national economic and social activities.
The land area of Henan Province is167,000 square kilometers, ranking 17 among all provinces and cities in China. The land area of Henan province accounts for 1.73% of the total land area of the whole country, while the plain basin and mountainous hills account for 55.7% and 44.3% of the total land area of Henan province respectively. Henan is the largest province with a population of 97.68 million. Henan is a multi-ethnic province. Besides the Han nationality, there are 55 ethnic minorities, which is one of the provinces with a large number of ethnic minorities in China. Henan now governs 17 provincial cities,/kloc-0 provincial cities, Jiyuan, 2/kloc-0 county-level cities and 89 counties, and so on, including Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Pingdingshan, Anyang, Hebi, Xinxiang, Jiaozuo, Puyang, Xuchang, Luohe, Sanmenxia and Nanyang.
The topography of the whole province is high in the west and low in the east. To the west of this province are Taihang Mountain and Western Henan Mountains. The western Henan mountain range is the eastern extension of the Qinling Mountains, and the Qinling Mountains fan out when they enter the western Henan. Funiu Mountain is the main part of the mountainous area in the west of Henan Province. The mountain is majestic and towering, with an altitude of1000-2000m, and is known as the roof of the whole province. Tongbai Mountain Range and Dabie Mountain Range are in the south of the province, and the elevation is generally below 1000m, which is the watershed of Huaihe River and Yangtze River. The loess hilly area is distributed on both sides of the Yellow River between Taihang Mountain and the mountainous area in western Henan. In the middle of Henan stands the majestic Songshan Mountain of Zhongyue. The eastern part of the province is the vast Huanghuai Plain.
Henan covers the Yellow River, Huaihe River, Haihe River and Yangtze River, with more than 500 rivers criss-crossing, and 493 rivers with a basin area of 1000 square kilometers. The Yellow River runs through the central part with a main stream of 7 1 1 km and a drainage area of 36,200 square kilometers, accounting for about 1/5 of the whole province. There are many tributaries of Huaihe River in the south-central part of the province, which is rich in water. The main stream is 340 kilometers long and the drainage area is 88,300 square kilometers, accounting for about 1/2 of the whole province. Weihe River and Zhanghe River in the north flow into Haihe River. Danjiang River, Turbulent River and Tangbai River in the southwest flow into Hanshui River. The total water resources in the province is 41300 million cubic meters, ranking 19 in the country. The reserve of hydraulic resources is 4.905 million kilowatts, and the exploitable amount is 365.438+0.5 kilowatts. According to the first forecast of water resources balance in Henan Province, the actual available surface water is 654.38+0.2 billion cubic meters, the annual exploitation and utilization of groundwater is 654.38+0.3 billion cubic meters, and the most profitable use of transit water is 654.38+0.8 billion cubic meters, and the total water resources in Henan Province is 40.666 billion cubic meters. At present, the province has built 2347 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 27 billion cubic meters. The effective irrigated area of agriculture is 4.79 million hectares. Xiaolangdi Water Control Project on the Yellow River is a large-scale water conservancy project across the century in China, which was completed in 200 1 year.
Henan plain is vast with moderate geographical and climatic conditions, and it is an important production base of agricultural and livestock products in China. The province's cultivated land resources are 8 1 10.3 thousand hectares (the actual cultivated land area is 7262.8 thousand hectares, that is,/kloc-0.089 million mu), accounting for 6.24% of the country, ranking fourth only after Heilongjiang, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia. Located in the transition zone from subtropical zone to warm temperate zone, the average annual temperature from south to north is 15.5℃ ~ 9.5℃, and the average annual rainfall is 1380.6 ~ 526.0 mm, with mild climate and moderate rainfall, and the frost-free period is 265-332 days. It is suitable for the growth of various crops and is an agricultural product such as wheat, corn, cotton, oilseeds and tobacco leaves in China. Grain production accounts for about110, oil production accounts for 1/7, beef production accounts for 1/7, cotton production accounts for 1/6, wheat, corn, tobacco leaves, beans, sesame and other agricultural products and meat, eggs and milk. There are many famous and special products in Henan, such as Yuanyang rice, Kaifeng watermelon, Qixian and Zhongmou garlic, Yongcheng pepper, Huaiyang daylily, Xinyang Maojian and chestnut, Xixia kiwi fruit, Lingbao apple, Ningling crisp pear, Neixiang Cornus officinalis, Luoyang peony, Yanling flower and Jiaozuo, which have all become well-known brands in China.
Henan is one of the main birthplaces of the Chinese nation. The history of Henan can be traced back to 500,000-600,000 years ago. The fossil of ape-man molar teeth found in Yunyang town of Nanzhao is about the same age as that of Beijingers. Since ancient times, our ancestors have thrived on the land of the Central Plains, creating prehistoric cultures such as Peiligang culture, Yangshao culture and Longshan culture that amaze the world. According to legend, Fuxi Nuwa laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Chinese nation in the Central Plains, and the huge Taihao Mausoleum is still preserved in Huaiyang. Xuanyuan Huangdi, known as "the first emperor of China", is said to have been born in today's xinzheng city, Zhengzhou, and made its capital here. During the 4000-year history from Yanshi, the capital of China's first hereditary dynasty, Xia Dynasty, to the demise of Qing Dynasty, Henan was in the national political, economic and cultural center for 3000 years, and its economic, social and cultural development reached its peak several times. More than 20 dynasties successively built or moved their capitals here. China has three ancient capitals, namely Anyang, the ancient capital of Yin and Shang Dynasties, Luoyang, the ancient capital of Nine Dynasties, and Kaifeng, seven dynasties. In the long history, there are countless romantic figures in Henan Province, including ancient philosophers and thinkers Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi, Han Fei, Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao, politicians and military strategists Li Si, Liu Xiu and Yue Fei, scientists and physicians Zhang Heng and Zhang Zhongjing, writers and artists Du Fu, Han Yu, Bai Juyi, Li He, Li Shangyin and Wu Daozi. Henan is also the birthplace of Shaolin Wushu and the biography of Chen Taiji, and it is called the hometown of China Kung Fu.
The long history has left a lot of valuable historical and cultural heritages for Henan, which has become a unique advantage for Henan to develop tourism. Henan ranks first in underground cultural relics, second in aboveground cultural relics, accounting for one-eighth of the country's cultural relics collection, and 54 national key cultural relics protection units. Longmen Grottoes is one of the three largest grottoes in China. In 2000, it was listed as a world cultural heritage. Yin Ruins in Anyang were listed as the first of 65,438+000 major archaeological discoveries in China in the 20th century by the national cultural relics department. In 2006, it was listed as a world cultural heritage. The White Horse Temple in Luoyang, the first ancient temple in the Central Plains, the magnificent Long Ting in Kaifeng, and the ancient street of Juniper, are full of quaint charm, majestic and solemn. There are also many places of interest such as Shaoshan Shaolin Temple, Songyang Academy, Dengfeng Stargazing Platform, Zhongyue Temple, Tangyin Yuefei Temple, Han Sanjue, Kaifeng Tower, Baogong Temple, Nanyang Wuhou Temple, Sanmenxia Hanguguan and Huaiyang Taihao Mausoleum. In order to effectively protect the rich historical and cultural heritage, the state and Henan Province jointly invested in the construction of the Henan Museum with novel shape, magnificent momentum and unique artistic style. At present, there are 6,543,800+2,000 cultural relics in the collection, including more than 40,000 precious cultural relics, especially prehistoric cultural relics, Shang and Zhou bronzes, ancient pottery and gold slips.
In addition to the rich cultural landscape, there are many colorful natural landscapes in Henan. Taihang Mountain with towering peaks, majestic Funiu Mountain, Tongbai Mountain with undulating mountains and winding streams, and lush Dabie Mountain constitute the four major mountain systems in Henan, among which there are many famous mountains and wonders, such as Zhongyue Songshan Mountain, rugged rocks and picturesque Jigong Mountain, which are dotted with majestic spirits and historic sites. Rivers and reservoirs in Henan are dotted with colorful tourist attractions. Overlooking the Yellow River with a long history and endless flow, the sky is boundless, and Tianshui is the same color, giving people the feeling of "how the water of the Yellow River moves the sky" and "the Yellow River is far above the white clouds". Baiquan Lake, where mountains and rivers complement each other, Nanwan Lake, which is misty and beautiful in the south, spits pearls and jade, pearl springs with their own characteristics, Yuquan, a mysterious and graceful natural cave, all have their own characteristics and unique flavor. In recent years, the "Three Points and One Line" along Huang Zhi has become an excellent tourist route in our province. There are more than 100 scenic spots in Henan. There are 25 key scenic spots in the province, including 5 national scenic spots such as Jigongshan, Songshan, Longmen, Wuwang and Yuntai Mountain, and 20 provincial scenic spots such as Shiren, Huancuiyu and Yellow River. There are 23 nature reserves. In 2005, the province received 600,000 tourists from foreign countries, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, an increase of 33.4% over the previous year. Received domestic tourists 10045 million person-times, up 25.4% year-on-year.