1. Name: Henan Province
2. Areas: 167 thousand km²
3. Population: 92.43 million (by the end of 1997)
4. Provincial Capital: Zhengzhou City
5. Geography: Henan Province is between 102° 21¢ ¢ E~116° 39¢ ¢ E and 31° 23¢ ¢ N ~36° 24¢ ¢ N. It is in temperate-subtropical zone and humid--semi-humid zone, and has a monsoon climate. It neighbors on Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and Shanxi.
6. Natural Resources: Henan Province is rich in land resource, mineral resource, and plant and animal resource, but much of the resource per capita is lower than China’s average. There are already 102 types of minerals found, 74 of them proved reserves, 26 types are among the first eight in China, and 12 types are among the first three. Aluminum, bauxite, gold and silver are the four major mineral products of Henan Province. There are many places of interest and historic sites in Henan, so tourism resource is rich as well.
7. Economy: In 1997, the gross domestic product of Henan was 407.926 billion Yuan, and the per capita gross domestic product was 4430.1 Yuan. The total provincial government revenue was 18.573 billion Yuan, and the total expenditures were 28.437 billion Yuan, the total investment in fixed assets were 116.519 billion Yuan. Henan is one of the country’s main industrial crop production areas.
8. People’s Life: In 1997, there were 48.2009 million employed, and 8.4133 million staff and workers. The unemployed population in cities and townships was 199 thousand. The average wage of staff and workers was 5225 Yuan, The average household consumption was 1842 for rural residence and 3906 for urban residence. The per capita living floor space was 8 m² for urban areas and 21.36 m² for rural areas. The outstanding amount of savings deposit in urban and rural areas by the end of the year was 224.3 billion Yuan, and the per capita outstanding amount of savings deposit was 2126.7 Yuan. The number of hospital beds per 10,000 persons was 19, and number of doctors per 10,000 persons was 11.5.
9. Education: Henan’s higher education is developing rapidly, and is now beginning to take shape. Elementary education is developing steadily, and the structure of secondary education was rearranged. By the end of 1997, there were 50 higher education institutions in Henan Province, with number of student enrollment 136,000 and teachers 16,530; 185 specialized secondary schools with number of student enrollment 290,326 and teachers15,609; 41,526 primary schools with number of student enrollment 11,699,599 and teachers 411,192. However, the overall situation is lag behind, educational funds per capita for primary school students is the last one of the country, and for secondary school students the next to last one.

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1. Size and Distribution

Henan has a large population; the total population in 1997 was 92.43 million, the 1^st of China. The population density is high; the distribution is uneven, there are less in the western parts, and more in the east. The proportion of city population is low. Minority population increases quickly; its proportion has been raised.

2. Population History

The process of population development in Henan can be divided into 5 periods since the establishment of new China:

1949~1958 was the period of fast population increase, about 850 thousands increase annually; the 1^st peak of fertility in Henan since 1949 was observed;

1962~1973 was the period of over-speed increase with an annual rate of 27.65‰, average 1.43 million increase annually; the 2^nd peak of fertility was observed;

1974~1977 the speed of increase slowed down, 1.1 million increase annually;

1978~1985 was the period of steady increase with an annual rate of 14.17‰, and 1.11 million increase annually;

1986~1990 population increased fast, the annual increase rate was 19.33‰, average 1.6 million increase annually.

3. Population Structure by Sex and Age

The sex ratio of Henan population is normal on the whole. But it is higher in low age group. In the year of 1997, population of age 0~14 made 26.72% of the total; 15~64 made 66.44% of the total; and population of age 65 and above made 6.84%. The total dependency ratio was 50.51%, with the ratio of children 40.22%. The proportion of children decreases and labor population goes up, such an age structure is beneficial to population and economic development.

4. Fertility Level and Changes

Fertility changes of Henan population experienced 2 peaks and 2 troughs. At present, it is in the 3^rd peak of birth. An obvious fertility difference exists between different age groups and between rural and urban. Fertility before legal marriage age was low. Fertility pattern changed from almost natural to controlled. According to projection, the size of natural increase population will decrease gradually. Negative population increase will appear before the middle of next century. Total population will still increase in the province, but will not go beyond 0.13 billion.

5. Mortality and Life Expectancy

Mortality changes of Henan population experienced 4 periods: sharp-decrease period, fluctuated period, slow decrease period and steady period. The mortality curve changed from U-shaped to J-shaped pattern. Infant mortality had gone down quickly; labor population mortality is low on the whole; old population mortality is high. The mortality rates in different areas are quite different.

After the founding of new China, the average life expectancy raised rapidly with sharp decrease of mortality rate. Life expectancy was 69.96 years old in the 90’s. Female’s life expectancy is higher than that of male in every age group. There are differences of life expectancy between rural and urban. The major causes of death among adults are cancer and heart disease.

6. Marriage Status, Family Size and Type

Marriage of Henan population is stable; majority population is in marriage status; only a few divorced and the proportion of divorced population is low. There was more widowed female than male among the population of 40 years old and above; the difference enlarged as age increases.

The increase of family size was faster than the increase of family household before 1980’s, then was slower after 1980’s. Family type is the same between rural and urban on the whole; the majority is nuclear family. Family becomes smaller and smaller.

7. Aging of Population

The aging process in Henan is fast; and the speed of rural population aging was faster than urban population. In 1997, population of age 65 and above was 6.322 million, made 6.84% of the total. According to projection, 1990~2009 is the period of aging initiation; 2010~2030 will be the period of speeding up of aging; 2031~2050 will be the peak period of aging. In 2050, total aged population will be 28.35 million in the province, makes 24.4% of the total population.

8. Population Quality

Educational undertaking in Henan province has made great progress since 1949. Illiteracy population is declining and other education level population is increasing. In 1997, the total population of illiteracy was 10.08 million, illiteracy ratio was 14.88‰. Education level of employed population in service industry is higher than in secondary industry, and secondary industry higher than primary industry; male higher than female; and urban higher than rural.

Education level of Henan population is low on the whole; illiteracy population is relatively large with new entrants.

9. Migration and Population Floating

With reform development, migration size and mobility size has been enlarged. The proportion of in-migration caused by marriage has been decreased, but the one caused by finding job or doing business has been increased, the sex ratio of migrants has been changed a lot, their education level improved. Among the in-migration population, the proportion work in agriculture declined. The main reasons of mobility are finding job, doing business, and training, the mobility population mainly are the people of age 18~35 who graduated from junior secondary school or senior secondary school. In-migration size is small and the proportion of in-migration caused by finding job or doing business is also small because Henan is a less developed province. Migration pattern will not change in the following years.

10. Population, Resources and Environment

Henan province makes good use of resource, improves the environments that do not fit living and production. The large population size and fast population growth put large pressure on land use; there was overuse of forest resource; environment pollution aggravates.

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