Sichuan

Sichuan

Sichuan province, China

Sichuan, Wade-Giles romanization Ssu-ch’uan, conventional Szechwan, sheng (province) of China. It is located in the upper Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) valley in the southwestern part of the country. Sichuan is the second largest of the Chinese provinces. It is bordered by the provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi to the north, the territory of Chongqing municipality to the east, the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan to the south, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west, and the province of Qinghai to the northwest. Sichuan was the most populous province in China until Chongqing and adjacent areas were separated from it in order to create the independent province-level municipality in 1997. The capital, Chengdu, is located near the centre of the province.

From economic, political, geographical, and historical points of view, the heart and nerve centre of Sichuan is in the eastern, Sichuan Basin area, also called the Red Basin (Hongpen). Its mild and humid climate, fertile soil, and abundant mineral and forestry resources make it one of the most prosperous and economically self-sufficient regions of China. The area has been seen by some as China in a microcosm and is often viewed as a country within a country. The Chinese call the basin Tianfu Zhi Guo, meaning “Heaven on Earth.” Area 188,000 square miles (487,000 square km). Pop. (2020) 83,674,866.