Jilin Province is located between 40°52’ ~ 46°18’ latitude north and between 121°38’ ~ 131°19’ longitude east. The area is 187,400 square kilometers. Its length is approximately 600 kilometers, and its width, approximately 750 kilometers.
The Southern neighbour is Liaoning Province, the Western border meets the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region, the North borders with Heilongjiang Province, while the East borders on the Russian Federation. Southeast Jilin Province borders with the North Korea Democratic Republic.
The total border length is 1438.7 kilometers. The Chinese and North Korean border line is 1,206 kilometers while the Chinese and Russian border line is 232.7 kilometers. The most eastern point, Hunchun, is only 15 kilometres from the Sea of Japan, and is 4 kilometres from Russian Xie Tewan.
The Land Form
Jilin Province has many different landforms. The topography inclines higher at the southeast and lower to the northwest. The mountain, Dahei, in the middle of the province, divides the land into two parts, a mountainous region in the east and a large plain in the mid-west. The eastern mountainous region, known as Changbaishan, is divided into two parts; the middle part, which is a low mountainous region, and a low, rolling hill country. The mid-west plain also divides into two parts, much of it is flat land, but in the west there are sand dunes.
Situation, Climate and Environment
Jilin Province is located in the eastern middle latitude of Eurasia. It belongs to the temperate zone, with a continental monsoon climate. There are four distinct seasons. Spring is dry with strong winds, summer has high temperature and rain, autumn brings clear skies and fresh air, and the winter is cold and long. The annual mean temperature in the entire province is 2 ~ 6 ℃, lower in the mountainous regions and higher in the plains. The frost-free period is usually 100 ~ 160 days.
The annual mean precipitation is 400 ~ 600 millimeters, but seasonal and regional differences are large, 80% of the rainfall occurs in the summer, and the east receives more rain. During the normal year, the light, heat and moisture conditions are sufficient for crop growth.
Looking from East to West, the ecology regional distribution naturally forms four parts; in the east, the Changbaishan mountain virgin forest ecology area, the central eastern part which is the low mountain knoll secondary vegetation ecology area, the middle part, which is the Songliao Plain ecology area and in the west, the prairie wetland. The eastern Changbaishan mountain area has a high percentage area of forest, an intact forest ecosystem, rich biological variety and abundant precipitation. This mountain range provides an important ecological environmental barrier in Jilin Province and even Northeast Asia. In the central eastern part, there is natural secondary forest tracts and a planted forest. The forest percentage is high and the Songhua River flows through with rich water and mineral resources. The vast middle Songliao Plain has smooth topography, fertile soil, a sheltered forest system, and itsenvironment can endure many difficult conditions. High quality agricultural products have been developed here, and so the region is known as “The Corn Belt” and “The Home of the Soybean”, for it is the important grain production base in China.
In the west, the Kerchin prairie extends to a vast wetland area. The underground water and rivers are very rich through areas of moist forest prairie, half arid prairie and the desert intermediate belt.
It is an important channel through which migratory birds move. The land is low lying, and the light and heat conditions are good for growing crops and there is a high potential for animal husbandry development in the region.
Agriculture and Forestry
Jilin Province has been called "the home of the hard road to walk on". The land is fertile, with the organic content of the soil surface layer ranging from between 2% and 3% up to 15%.
The cultivated area of the entire province is 3.982 million hectares, accounting for 21.2% of the total acreage. The average cultivated area per person is 0.15 hectares, which is higher than the national average. The flat fertile plain stretching to the horizon is rich in corn, rice paddies, soybean, fuel oils and miscellaneous grain. Agricultural products have developed to a high quality and organic products are also produced here.
Jilin Province is China's important forestry base. Forest land area covers 8.052 million hectares,
making up for 42.5% of the total land. The existing live standing timber totals 860.89 million cubic meters, making Jilin Province the 6th in forestry nationwide.
The Changbaishang mountain area is known as “the long white boundless forest", and is one of China’s six main forests. The region grows Korean pine, the xylosma japonicum, the manchurian ash, theyellow pineapple and many others. "The long white pine" of the Changbaishang mountain is unique, rare and precious, because its trunk is tall and straight, the bark bright, and its shape elegant. It isknown as “the beauty pine” and in 1999 was included in the State Council "National Key Protection Wild plant Name List".
Jilin Province has 83 kinds of proven mineral resources. These reserves include oil shale, diatomaceous earth, wollastonite, cinder, nickel, molybdenum, as well as mineral water in the eastern part of Jingyu County, which is the best in the country. In the year 2000, it was named, "the Chinese Changbaishang mountain Chingyu mineral spring city". The Wahaha brand, the FarmerMountainSpringwaterandothers have become well-known, specialized production drinks and they base their factories in this region.
Jilin Province is one of China’s eight large pastoral areas. Most of the grasslands are in the eastern mountainous regions and west in the prairie. In the east, there is more grass but the areas of grasslands are separated from each other. In the West, the pasture is vast and continuous and its quality, which is good for sheep grazing, is renowned in China and abroad. It is a very important base for developing animal husbandry.
Rivers and Hydroelectricity
Jilin Province is the source of many rivers, and the place of their upper and middle reaches. There are 1,648 rivers which drainage areas are more than 20 square kilometers in the province. The rivers comprise five main river systems, the Songhua River, the Liaohe River, the Yalu River, Tumen Jiang and the Suifen River. In the eastern mountainous region there is a network of waterways. The total water volume and flow is very large.
Ninety-eight percent of the hydro-energy resources lies in the eastern mountain area. The four largest power stations are the Baishi, the Hongshi, the Yuanfeng and the Fengman. In the whole province there are 13 large reservoirs, 85 medium reservoirs, more than 1,300 small reservoirs, and small pond dams in more than 5,500 places, with a total storage capacity of 29.8 billion cubic meters.
Plants and Animals
Jilin Province has many kinds of plants and animals. There are 5,284 wild plant species and 437 animals species. Jilin Province is famous for "the three treasures of the northeast" (ginseng, marten fur and velvet). These are all found in the east Beishan mountain region. Jilin Province has many wild edible plants. Tonghua wine is also produced in the province. The Changbaishan region is reputed to have one of the three big natural raw materials for Chinese traditional medicine. The entire province has 1,452 kinds of medicinal products, including ginseng, asarum and gastrodia. Jilin Province has national protection for 77 kinds of wild animals, including the Manchurian tiger.
