Geography and Climate of Hunan

In Chinese language, Hunan means “on the south of a lake”. It gets this name because most parts of Hunan Province lie on the south of the Dongting Lake. The longest river running northward in Hunan is Xiang River, so Hunan is often called Xiang for short. It was under the jurisdiction of Chu Kingdom In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, Changsha Prefecture and Qianzhong Prefecture in the Qin Dynasty, Jingzhou Prefecture in the Han Dynasty, Jiangnanxi Road, Shannan Dongdao and Qian Zhongdao in the Tang Dynasty, Jinghubei Lu and Jinghunan Lu in the Song Dynasty, Hu-Guang Province in the Yuan Dynasty, Hu-Guang Buzhengshisi in the Ming Dynasty and Hunan Province in the Qing Dynasty. Mao Testung once wrote a verse line “a land of hibiscus glowing in the morning sun” to express his praise and wish for his hometown, so Hunan also gets the name of “A Land of Hibiscus”.　　

Hunan is between east longitude 108°47 and 114° 15, and between north latitude 24°38 and 30°08. In the east, it adjoins Jiangxi Province in regions such as Mufu and Wugong mountain ranges; in the West, it adjoins Guizhou Province through the eastern part of the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau; in the northwest its Wuling mountain range is adjacent to Chongqing; in the south it is neighboring to Guangdong and Guangxi through Nanling; in the north its Binhu Plain adjoins Hubei Province.

The whole province’s land area is 211,800 square kilometers. The wooded area is 9,864,100 hectares, the forest cover rate is 53.67%, and its total population is 67,320,000.　　

It has 13 prefecture-level cities and one autonomous prefecture; it has 16 county-level cities and 72 counties (including seven autonomous counties), 34 municipal districts, and 122 county-level territorial districts in total.　　

Hunan features sub-continental Mid-subtropical monsoon humid climate. It has four distinct seasons. In winter, its cold period is short, and its non-frost period is long. In spring it often rains lightly but incessantly; in summer it is hot and rainy; in autumn it is dry and predominantly sunny; and in winter it is cold and windy and sometimes it snows. Its annual mean temperature ranges between 16℃ and 18℃, and its annual rainfall is 1,200mm to 1,700mm. All the year round, it is suitable for tourism, and the golden tourism season is autumn.