Known as Zhongyuan-Central Land in ancient China, Henan Province has a population of 92.56 million. Of its total land area of 160,000 square kilometres, 55.7 per cent or 93,000 square kilometres is plain and suitable for growing crops. With its advantageous geographical location, Henan used to be a business centre of China in ancient times. Its geographical advantages make the province a great base for the surrounding provinces. Henan is also an important province due to its abundant resources, vast market and convenient transportation facilities. Since opening-up to the outside world, Henan has gone through many changes but shown great vitality. Henan's economy has witnessed sustained rapid and healthy development. Based on the construction of Zhengzhou as a commercial and trading city, the whole province is now setting up a number of national and regional commodity-distribution centres and specialized wholesale market.

The annual average temperature ranges from 13t to 16. 7t. Every year, between 190 and 230 days are frost-free. The annual average rainfall varies between 580 to 1,340 millimetres. The arable land of the province is 6.8 million hectares (17 million acres) and ranks No 2 in China. Temperate climate conditions in the province result in diversified biological resources. The production of wheat, cotton, tobacco, sesame, peanut, corn, domestic animals and fowl leads the rest of China. It is also an important producer of fish and fruits. Henan Province is rich in mineral resources. The bounteous reserves of coal, oil, natural gas and aluminum constitute a solid foundation for the development of its industry.

Henan is the cradle of Chinese culture. It is home to capitals of more than 20 dynasties and kingdoms in China's history. Xia, the first dynasty of China, established its realm in the Luoyang basin and the second dynasty, the Shang, made Luoyang its capital. Later, other 12 dynasties, such as the Eastern Zhou, Eastern Han, Wei, Western Jin, Northern Wei, Sui, fang, Later Liang, Later Tang and Later Jin made Luoyang their capital, totalling 1,529 years as a capital. Hence the capital of thirteen dynasties, and <\nyang, the capital during the Shang Dynasty, are among the seven most 'amous capitals in China (the other six ancient capitals being Luoyang, Kaifeng, Xi'an, Beijing, Nanjing and Hangzhou). In terms of culture and listorical relics, Henan ranks No 1 in China for its underground relics and No ~ for its relics above ground. Among the spots of historical and cultural nterests, the most famous is the Shaolin Temple, renowned for its ,onsummate martial art (Wushu); the White Horse Temple, the earliest 3uddhist temple in China; Yinxu, the ruins of the capital of Shang Dynasty; --angmen Grottoes and Longting Pavilion.

Henan Province is also known for its famous rivers and mountains. The '( ellow River runs across the northern part of the province and the Songshan vIountain, which is one of the China's Five Sacred Mountains ever enshrined lY ancient emperors, stands in the central part of the province.

Relying on its rich coal reserves, Henan Province has developed into China's eading province in thermal power generation. In addition, the Xiaolangdi -Iydropower Station on the Yellow River, a key project in China during the urn of the century added another 1.8 million kilowatts to the province's total lOwer generating capacity.

By the end of 2002, the province had a total of nearly 70,000 kilometres of lighways open for traffic, including 1,000 kilometres expressways. A reeway has been formed with Zhengzhou as the centre. The province is ;hina's railway transportation hub with such major national railways as Beijing~uangzhou, Lianyungang-Lanzhou, Jiaozuo-Zhicheng and Beijing-Kowloon ailways converging there. The Lianyungang-Lanzhou railway is a part of the :urasian Continental Bridge connecting Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and ,ianyungang, China. Speaking of civil aviation, the new Zhengzhou Airport an handle 3. 8 million passengers per year.

In terms of telecommunications industry, the province has also improved ubstantially. At present, all the townships in the province have installed omestic and international direct dialling telephone systems.