Kirin, province, China

Kirin: see Jilin Jilin or Kirin , province (1994 est. pop. 25,150,000), 72,000 sq mi (186,528 sq km), NE China; one of the original Manchurian provinces. The capital is Changchun. It is bordered by Heilongjiang prov.
..... Click the link for more information. , prov., China.

Kirin, city, China

Kirin, city: see Jilin Jilin or Kirin , city (1994 est. pop. 1,117,800), central Jilin prov., China, on the Songhua River. It is a shipping port, a railroad junction, and a commercial and industrial center, with large chemical plants and paper mills.
..... Click the link for more information. , China.

Jilin

or Chi-lin conventional Kirin

Province (pop., 2002 est.: 26,990,000), northeastern China. It is bordered by Russia and North Korea, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces, and Inner Mongolia. With an area of 72,200 sq mi (187,000 sq km), it is China's most urbanized province; its capital is Changchun, and its second largest city is Jilin. Its major river is the Sungari (Songhua) River, a tributary of the Amur. It was made a province in 1907. Occupied by the Japanese army in 1931, it became part of the puppet state of Manchukuo (1932–45). Chinese communist forces seized the province from the Nationalists in 1948. Industrialization since the late 20th century has been rapid.

Jilin, Kirin

1. a province of NE China, in central Manchuria. Capital: Changchun. Pop.: 27 040 000 (2003 est.). Area: 187 000 sq. km (72 930 sq. miles)

2. a river port in NE China, in N central Jilin province on the Songhua River. Pop.: 1 496 000 (2005 est.)

Kirin

(Chilin), a province in northeast China. Area, 290,000 sq km; population, 17.9 million (1972). The population is primarily Chinese, but there are also Koreans (6 percent) and Manchurians (3 percent). The administrative center of the province is Changchun.

Natural features. The southwest part of Kirin is covered by the Manchu-Korean Mountains, composed of several chains 500-1,200 m in altitude, divided by broad, densely populated valleys. The range reaches an altitude of 2,744 m at the mountain Paitowshan. In the southwest is the flat Sungliao Valley. The climate is of the moderate monsoon type. The average temperature in January is -17° to -20° C and in July, 20° to 24° C. Annual precipitation ranges from 400 to 600 mm on the plain and reaches 1,000 mm in the mountains. In the southwest, there are remains of steppe and forest steppe areas, but much of the territory has become cultivated. In the southeast, mixed and broadleaf forests, changing to coniferous forests at higher altitudes in the mountains, cover about 30 percent of the province’s territory.

Economy. Kirin is an important industrial region of the country. The mining of coal (Liaoyiian mines), copper (T’ien-pao Shan), lead and zinc (Shih Tsui-tzu), iron ore, and gold is carried on. Lumbering has also been developed. The basic source of energy for the province is the Fengman hydroelectric power plant on the Sungari River. Under the rule of the people’s government, during the period 1949—57 auto manufacturing (centered at Changchun, where the largest automobile plant in the nation was built with the help of the USSR) and heavy metallurgy (Tunghua) were established in the province. Also important are the timber industry, woodworking, paper manufacturing, and especially the chemical industry, principally located in the city of Chilin. Cultivation is the prevailing form of agriculture, producing corn, millet, and kaoliang and, among industrial crops, soya and sugar beets. Cattle, hogs, sheep, horses, and marals are raised. The province is also noted for the harvest of ginseng.

IA. M. BERGER

History. In ancient times, the territory of Kirin was populated by Tungus tribes. From the eighth century to the 13th most of it was included in the following states: Pohai, the state of the Tungus; Liao, of the Khitans; and Chin, of the Jurchens. In 1234 it was conquered by the Mongols, who then went on to conquer China. After the collapse of the Mongol state in the second half of the 14th century, the southern parts of the region passed under the authority of the Chinese, while the rest remained under Mongol and Tungus tribes. In the early 17th century, the territory of Kirin was completely under the control of the Manchus, who conquered China as well in the middle of the century. Under the Manchurian Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911), Kirin and the other provinces of Manchuria were considered to be the domain of the Manchu house. For a long time it was sparsely populated, immigration by the Chinese being forbidden until the 1860’s. In the second half of the 19th century, the Chinese settlement of Kirin began, accompanied by a significant expansion of the amount of cultivated land. The development of the economy was aided by the construction of the East China Railway by Russia in 1903. After the occupation of Manchuria by the Japanese in 1931 and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the best lands in Kirin were seized by Japanese colonists. In August 1945 the area was liberated from the Japanese occupation by the Soviet Army. From 1946 to 1948, most of it was under the control of the Kuomintang. Finally, in March-September 1948 the province was completely liberated from the Kuomintang by the People’s Liberation Army of China.

V. P. ILIUSHECHKIN