Location: Northwest China Province on the upper reaches of the Yellow River .
Area: 455, 000 sq km
Climate: Gansu has a temperate monsoon climate with the marked transitional characteristics of a continental climate. It has an annual temperature of 0°－15°C, with great difference between north and south, and an annual precipitation of 50-800 mm, decreasing from southeast to northwest.
Provincial capital: Lanzhou
Population: 24.67 millions (March 2001)
Ethnic groups: Han, Hui, Tibetan, Mongol and eight other ethnic groups.
Major Cities: Dunhuang; Jiayuguan; Jiayuguan
Agriculture: The grassland in Gansu Province is the fifth biggest in China. Growing in the Loess Highland are mostly wheat, maize, millet, cotton and linseed. The area around Lanzhou is a melon and fruit producer famous for its Bailan melons. Its main livestock includes pigs, sheep, cattle and horses.
Industry: Gansu has more than 60 types of minerals, the best-known being nickel, copper, lead and zinc. Jinchang is the country's leading nickel producer. Iron, Chromium, tungsten, mercury, and antimony are found in a number of areas. Yumen and Changqing are sizable oilfields. The province is also rich in coal, troilite, cement, limestone, gypsum, mirabilite and fluorite.
