(1)外文名称: Sichuan Province
    (2)中文名称: 四川省
    (3)内容:
                              四 川 省
                          Sichuan Province
Geography:
     Sichuan Province is located in the Upper Yangtze Valley in the southwest part of the country. It covers an area of 569,000 square kilometers (219,700 square miles) and is bordered by the provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi to the north, Guizhou and Yunnan to the south, the Tibetan Autonomous Region to the west, Qinghai to the northwest, and Chongqing Municipality to the east.
    One of the most populous regions in China, it has an estimated population over 70,000,000. The name Sichuan means four rivers and refers to the four main tributaries of the Yangtze River, which flows through the province. The provincial capital of Chengdu is located in the center of the province.
    From economic, political, geographical, and historical points of view, the heart and nerve center of Sichuan is the Chengdu basin area, commonly known as Sichuan. Its mild and humid climate, fertile soil, and abundant mineral and forestry resources make it one of the most prosperous and economically self-sufficient regions of China. The Chinese call the basin
Tina Fu Hz Go, which literally means heaven on the Earth.
History:
    Apart from the upper Yellow River Valley provinces, Sichuan was the first area of China to be settled by the Chinese, or Han, people. The first organized Chinese migration took place in the 5th century BC.
    Sichuan was known as BA Su territory during the Thou Dynasty (11th century-256 BC). During the In Dynasty (221-206 BC) the territory was incorporated into the In Empire and began to assume considerable importance in China's national life. It was at this time that the Dujiangyan irrigation system was built to control the Minjiang River and to irrigate the Chengdu Plain. During the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220 to 264) the Sichuan region constituted the Shu Kingdom. From the end of this period until the 10th century, Sichuan was known by various names and administered through various political subdivisions. During the Song and Southern Song dynasties (AD 960-1279), it began to be named as Sichuan Lu. Sichuan was established as a province during the Qing dynasty (AD 1644-1911).
Natural Environment:
    Relief: Sichuan is surrounded on all sides by highlands. To the north, the Qinling Mountains extend from east to west, with an elevation between 11,000 and 13,000 feet above sea level. The limestone Daba Mountains rise to approximately 9,000 feet in the northeast, while the Dalou Mountains, a lower and less continuous mountain range with an average elevation of 5,000 to
7,000 feet, lie in the south. To the west, the Daxue - the Great Snowy Mountains or Azure Mountains of the Tibetan borderland -- rise to an average elevation of 14,500 feet.
    Sichuan Basin: an extensive depression - or known as the Red Basin - and its peripheral highlands predominate in the east; the land slopes toward the center of the basin from all directions. This basin was a gulf of the China Sea in the later Paleozoic Era from 225,000,000 to 570,000,000 years ago; most of it is underlain by soft sand stones and shales that range in color from red to purple. Toward the west there is a general horizontal rock structure, while to the east there is considerable discontinuity and deformation.  The most impressive portion of the basin's surface is the Chengdu Plain -- the only large continuous tract of relatively flat land in the whole of the province.
    The landforms of western Sichuan include a plateau in the north and mountains in the south. The northern area is part of the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which consists of highlands over 12,000 feet above sea level and higher mountain ranges. There is also an extensive plateau and some swampland.
To the south, the transverse mountain belt of eastern Tibet and western Yunnan Province rises to an average of between 9,000 and 10,000 feet above sea level. Trending from north to south is a series of parallel lofty ranges and canyons more than a mile deep. The Minya Konka in the Daxue Mountain is the highest peak in the province; it rises to a height of 24,900 feet (7,590 meters).
Drainage:
     Seen from the air, the principal drainage pattern of the eastern section of the province has the appearance of a leaf with a network of veins. The Yangtze River -- flowing from west to east -- is conspicuous as its midrib, and the main north and south tributaries appear as its branch veins. The name Sichuan (four rivers) refers to the four main tributaries of the Yangtze, that is, the Minjiang, Dadu, Jialing and Wujiang rivers, which flow from north to south. Most of the major streams flow to the south,   cutting steep gorges in the west or widening their valley floors in the soft sediments of the Sichuan Basin; they then empty into the Yangtze before its slices its precipitous gorge, 150 miles due east, through the Wushan Mountain below  Wanxian City, now of Chongqing Municipality directly under the administration of the central government.
Soil:
    There are six major soil regions -- three in the east and three in the west. In the east, they include the highly fertile, purple-brown forest soils for which the Red Basin is named. The other eastern soils consist of the non-calcareous alluvium and rice-paddy soils of the Chengdu Plain and other river valleys and the yellow earth of the highlands and ridges. From the
standpoint of agricultural land use, the alluvial soils are the most important group. They are fertile and are formed mainly from the rich black soils that are washed down from the Tibetan borderlands.
    The three major groups of soils in the west are the degenerated chernozem (dark-colored soils containing deep, rich humus) soils of the Songpan Grassland, the alluvial soils of the numerous valleys and the podzolized, gray-brown soils of the mountain slopes.
    Climate:
    In the eastern basin area and the lower western valleys that are sheltered from cold polar air masses by the surrounding mountains, there are 350 frost-free days in the east, and the growing season lasts nearly all year round. In the west, the sheltering effect of the mountains is evident from the contrast between the perennially snow-capped peaks and the mild weather prevailing in the valleys beneath them.
    During the summer, in July, the mean temperature is less than 20 degrees Centigrade in most parts of the west. During the winter, the mean temperature in the west decreases northward from 12 degrees Centigrade in Xichang to minus 8 degrees Centigrade in Qinning.
    The eastern rainy season begins in April and reaches its peak during July and August. Annual precipitation reaches about 40 inches annually. Precipitation is lower in the west than in the east. The average total of about 20 inches falls mainly during the summer, and there is heavy snowfall in the mountains during the winter.
Population:
   Ethnic composition and distribution: Sichuan Province has one of the most diversified ranges of ethnic groups in the whole of China. They include the Han, the Yi, the Tibetans, the Miao, the  Hui and the Qiang. The majority of the minority ethnic groups have maintained their traditional lifestyles, and in most cases, they practice a mixture of agriculture, animal husbandry, and hunting.
   Population density: As one of the most densely populated provinces of China, Sichuan, however, sees its population unevenly distributed. The number of persons per square mile of cultivated land varies from about 26,000 persons in the Chengdu Plain to fewer than 130 persons in the west.
Agriculture:
   Approximately 85 percent of the population of the province earn their living from agriculture and most of the provincial exports are farm products. Cultivation is characterized by the diversity of crops, intensive land use, and the special methods of soil culture, fertilization and crop rotation.
   The crops range from those of sub-tropical climates to those of the cool temperate zone. Sichuan, generally classified as a rice region, is also a major producer of such crops as corn, sweet potatoes, wheat, rapeseed, sorghum, barley, soybeans and millet. Tropical fruits-such as litchi and citrus -- grow together with  apples and pears of cool temperate climates.
    Sichuan leads all of China in production of rice, corn, sweet potatoes and rapeseed and ranks second in production of barley and soybeans. Other principal cash crops include sugarcanes, cotton, tobacco, silk, hemp and tea. Sichuan has a long history of silk production; its hemp and other fiber crops normally ranks second in China.
    Livestock: Sichuan is the only region in China in which both water buffaloes of South China and oxen of North China are found together. Pig bristles from Sichuan are internationally known and have been an important export commodity for years. About half of the inhabitants of the west are pastoral. Their animals include cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys, and yaks (long-haired oxen from Tibet). The most important animal by-products are butter, cheese, fur, and hides.
Mining and Quarrying
   Mineral deposits are abundant and varied. They include  metallic and non-metallic deposits, such as those of iron, copper, gold, silver, aluminum, salt, coal, petroleum, asbestos, and marble. Sichuan is also the only major producer of brine salt in China.
   Petroleum and natural gas are often located together and are widely distributed throughout the province. Natural gas has been used for centuries to produce brine salt.
   Most coal fields are located in the eastern and southern mountain areas, those of the Huayang mountainous area are the richest. The leading iron deposit is in the Qijiang area, and those of the western plateau are of high quality. Placer gold along the Jinsha River (Gold Sand River) is important. Other valuable minerals include tin, zinc, and sulfur.
Industry
   The most important industries include iron and copper smelting, machinery, power, coal mining, petroleum refining, chemicals, textiles, and food processing. Sichuan is also known for its cottage industries. These include the hand weaving of cloth, production of silk products, silver smith and copper smith, and embroidery.
Transportation
   For centuries, travel into the province was extremely difficult. The main entrances to it were the dangerous Yangtze Gorges in the east, the treacherous Changtao road across the mountains in the north, and the deep canyons and swift currents of the Dadu River and Jinsha River in the west.
   Component systems: Inland waterway. Water routes are a very important means of transportation. There are about 300 streams in the province, with a total length of more than 8,000 miles. The mighty Yangtze River, the most significant, is the spinal cord of the river transportation system.
   Railway: Railways are important for the transport of bulky products. The Chengdu-Baoji Railway -- which crosses the  Qinling Mountains, is linked to the principal east-west Longhai Railway. Sichuan is thus connected to both northwest and coastal China. The Chengdu-Chongqing Railway links the rich Chengdu Plain with the industrial and navigation hub of the Yangtze River at Chongqing. The Sichuan-Guizhou railway connects Sichuan to its southern neighbor and an extension of it gets Sichuan through to the nearest sea port in the south.
   Roads: The principal highway focus is Chengdu, the capital city. Nanchong, Ya'an, Santai are secondary centers. Major highways that connect neighboring provinces run to Shaanxi in the north, Chongqing Municipality in the east, Guizhou and Yunnan in the south and Tibet in the west. The Chengdu-A ba-
Lanzhou Highway and the Chengdu-Tibet Highway cross high and rugged mountains, deep valleys, and vast plateaus.
   In the west, Ya'an is the only major highway center.  From there roads radiate into Chengdu in the east, Qinghai Province in the north, Yunnan Province in the south, and Tibet in the west.