Fujian

Wuyi Mountains

Fujian

Fujian, Wade-Giles romanization Fu-chien, conventional Fukien, sheng (province) on the southeastern coast of China, situated opposite the island of Taiwan. It is bordered by the provinces of Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the southwest; the East China Sea lies to the northeast, the Taiwan Strait (between the mainland and Taiwan) to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast. Fujian (meaning “Happy Establishment”) is one of the country’s smaller provinces, but it occupies a strategic maritime position between the two sections of the China Sea. Its capital and largest city is Fuzhou (“Happy City”).

The province is also known historically as Min, for the “seven Min tribes” that inhabited the area during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 bce). It was, however, during the Song dynasty (960–1279 ce) that the name Fujian was given to a superprefecture created in the area and the basic geographical boundaries of the province were established. The region is one of the most picturesque in Asia, with wooded hills and winding streams, orchards, tea gardens, and terraced rice fields on the gentler slopes. Area 47,500 square miles (123,100 square km). Pop. (2020) 41,540,086.