Area: 156,800 km2 (60,500 sq mi) (19th)

Population: 33,350,000 (19th)

Major Ethnic Composition: Han 99.7%; Hui 0.2%

GDP(2008): CNY 635.4 billion (22nd)

Capital:  Taiyuan

Prefecture-level:  11 divisions

Major Cities:  Taiyuan; Datong; Linfen; Yangquan

Official Website: www.shanxigov.cn (In Chinese) 

Jin is short for Shanxi province. It lies in Huabei in China. It is 150,000 square kilometers in area and with a population is 29.2 million.

Shanxi located in the East of Huangtu Plateau. In Shanxi, the eastern and western parts are hilly lands. And in the middle part, there are some basins. The hilly areas, plateaus and hilly lands occupy 72 percent. And the basins occupy 28 percent. The rivers here belong to two river systems, they are the Yellow River and the Hai River. The biggest tributary of the Yellow  River is Fen River. It has a semi-dry continental monsoon climate in the temperate zone.

The reserves of coal and bauxite are amongst the first places in China. Shanxi abounds in iron ore, there are also copper, sulphur and salt.

The basins here are the main agricultural region. The most important products are wheat, corn, cotton and peanut. The animal husbandry centralizes in the northwestern part. Shanxi is the base of coal industry. The produces of heavy machinery and textile are amongst the important places in the whole country. Also, there is iron and steel, electric  power, chemical industry, textile and food. The communication mainly is railway. And the highway here is convenient too.

The historic reserves in Shanxi are abound. The places of interest here are Jin Ancestral Hall in Taiyuan, Yungan Cave in Datong, Shuanglin Temple in Pingyao, Hanging Temple in Hunyuan, Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River, Wutai Mountain and Heng Mountain. The traditional specialties are Fen wine, Zhuyeqing wine, Qingxu vinegar and Changzhi ginseng.