Area & population:

The province covers a total continental area of 101,800 square kilometers. Hills and mountains account for 70.4 percent of the total area in the province. Plains and basins make up 23.2 percent while the rest 6.4 percent is water area composed of rivers and lakes. The number of islands in Zhejiang amounts to 3,061 with a total area of 1,670 square kilometers. It is a province with the most islands in China, among which Zhoushan Archipelago is the largest. Zhejiang also boasts a coastline totaling 6,486 kilometers with a total ocean area of 220,000 square kilometers. In addition, the province has lots of bays with over 60 natural ports of various areas, constituting a port-cluster among which Ningbo Port, Wenzhou Port, Zhoushan Port, Jiaxing Port and Taizhou Port are the most important. As per sampling survey, the permanent population of the province reached 48.98 million by the end of 2005, an increase of 1.97% than the previous year.

Administrative jurisdictions:

There are 11 cities under the direct jurisdiction of Zhejiang provincial government, including Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Quzhou, Zhoushan, Taizhou and Lishui, under which there are 36 counties, 22 town-level cities and 32 county-level districts . The provincial capital city is Hangzhou. Ningbo is a national independent-planning city.

Natural resources:

The average water resources of Zhejiang total 99.03 billion cubic meters, ranking the fourth in China by per unit area.

Forestry covers 59.4 percent of the province¡¯s total area with rich resources of economic forests and bamboo grove. Famous local special products include tea, mulberries, oranges and tangerines. The output of nuts like hickory and Chinese torreya accounts for more than 70 percent of that of the country. The province is also a major producer of Chinese tallow trees, bark of official magnolia and fruit of medicinal cornel. In addition, the output of bamboo is in the front ranks in the country. Zhejiang has varied vegetation, winning the reputation of ¡°a treasure house of plants in southeast China¡±. More than fifty species such as ginkgo, commonly referred to as a ¡°living fossil¡±, are listed in the Directory of Rare Plants under State Protection. Besides, in Zhejiang there are 1,900 species of wild animals, among which over 120 are under state protection, making up one-third of those in the Directory of Wild Animals under State Protection.

The province is also rich in non-metallic mineral reserves with 12 of them ranking among the first three places in the country. Its reserves of stone coal, alum, pyrophyllite, and tuff (used in cement or building) rank the first in China and the reserves of fluorite rank the second. In addition, rich deposits of oil and natural gas in the continental shelf are awaiting exploitation.

The province is also abundant in fishery resources. Zhoushan Archipelago is the largest basis for marine fishery in China.

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