1. Name: Shandong Province
2. Areas: 156.7 thousand km²
3. Population: 87.85 million (by the end of 1997)
4. Provincial Capital: Jinan City
5. Geography: Shandong Province is along China’s eastern coast and is in the lower Yellow River area. It is between Huabei area and Huadong area. Shandong's location is between 34° 23° N~38° 24° N and 114.48° 48° E~122° 42° E, and has a temperate half-moist climate. It neighbors on Hebei, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu, is a communication hub on China’s coastline.
6. Natural Resources: 65% of the province' s land are plains and low-lying land, and 35% are mountainous or hilly land. The area of natural lakes are 1500 km², and the forest cover is 20%. There are a few thousand types of utilizable organisms in Shandong. Its marine resources are very rich. It is one of the country's major bases of energy resource. 128 types of minerals have already been found and 30 types are in the important positions in China. Such as gold, natural sulfur and gypsum, which are the 1^st in China; oil, diamond and magnesite, which are 2^nd; also 20 types including coal, natural gas and iron ore, which are the tenth.
7. Economy: In 1997, the gross domestic product of Shandong was 665 billion yuan, and the per capita gross domestic product was 7,590 yuan. The total imports and exports were 17.44 billion US dollars; total provincial government revenue was 30.442 billion yuan; yield of grain 38.522 million tons, per capita yield of grain was 440 kg. Agriculture makes very important contribution to the provincial economy, the percentage of reclaim and cultivate wasteland is 60%. The main industrial crops are cotton, peanuts, tobacco and flax; and the sideline productions are mainly weaving, wild plant and herb collection；the offshore is teem with fish and crabs and kelp, it is one of China’s major sea fisheries.
8. People’s Life: In 1997, the total wages of staff and workers was 58050 million yuan. The per capita net income of rural residence was 2292 yuan. The average wage of staff and workers was 6241 yuan, and the per capita annual disposable income of urban households was 5190.8 yuan. The average household consumption was 2714 yuan. The per capita living floor space was 12.7 m² for urban areas and 23.16 m² for rural areas. The outstanding amount of savings deposit in urban and rural areas by the end of the year was 326.111 billion yuan, and the per capita outstanding amount of savings deposit was 3712.09 yuan. The number of hospital beds per 10,000 persons was 23.5, and number of doctors per 10,000 persons was 15.16.
9. Education: Since the reform in 1979, the development of Shandong's higher education institution became faster, the structure of middle schools were rearranged, and the quality of education was made the key of reform. By the end of 1997, there were 18 higher education institutions in Shandong Province, with number of student enrollment 175,920 and teachers 20,414; 252 specialized secondary schools with number of student enrollment 311,161 and teachers 20,291; 37,377 primary schools with number of student enrollment 9,901,922 and teachers 434,671.

The total population of Shandong province in 1997 was 87.85 million, which was the 2^nd of China, only less than Henan province. There were much more population in the west and south. The population density in inland area increased faster than in coastal area; this trend leads to greater imbalance of population distribution between inland and coastal areas.

Since the founding of People’s Republic of China, the process of population development in Shandong has obvious period feature and the development of every period are different.

1949~1958 was the period of fast increase of total population with an annual rate of 1.97%.

1959~1961 was the period of negative growth of total population with annual rate of –0.99%.

1962~1972 was the period of total population fast increase with an annual rate of 2.19%. This period was the 2^nd peak of population growth.

1973~1990, the speed of increase slowed down to annual rate 1.34%, stepped into the 3^rd peak of population growth.

The pattern of population reproduction experienced a transition from tradition to transition, and then, modern pattern.

From 1^st National Census to 4^th National Census (1953~1990), the sex ratio of Shandong province increased gradually. Today, it is about 103. The age distribution changed from young in the 50's and 60's, to adult in the 80's, and towards old in 90's. In 1997, population of age 0~14 made 23.27% of the total; 15~64 population made 68.67%; and population of age 65 and above made 7.86% of the total.

Since 1949, women's fertility declined greatly. The total fertility rate decreased from 5.43 in the 50's to below replacement level in the 90's. The birth rate of Shandong was 11.28‰, and natural increase rate was 4.63‰ in 1997. According to population projections in 4 scenarios, the population of Shandong will still increase in following 30 years, but it is possible that the total population will not go beyond 100 million.

Since 1949, the mortality change of Shandong experienced 5 period: high mortality period; abnormal rise period; quick decrease period; gradual decrease period and low mortality period. The curve of mortality changed from U-shaped to J-shaped pattern. The mortality is different between rural and urban. In general, the mortality of rural area is higher than urban area. The proportion of the death in low age group decreased; it increased in high age group. The median age of death population becomes older and death population of male is more than female.

Shandong's life expectancy became longer gradually with an annual increase rate of 1.6 years and it went beyond 70 years old in the 90's.

In Shandong province, marriage is stable; divorce rate is very low. The mode age of married population tend to be older since the 80¢ s. Remarriage rate of divorced male is lower than divorced female.

The number of family household increases quickly. The size of family household decreases while the number of household increases; smaller family took larger family's place. Family size is larger in remote region and less-developed areas than in urban and developed areas.

Population aging of Shandong province started when Shandong was less developed and population growth has not been controlled completely. Family planning policy had a great effect on population aging. Different areas stepped into aging in different time.

Shandong's population aged speedily, but aging level is low. In 1990, population of age 60 and above made 9.43% of the total. According to projection, the process of aging is slow in 1990~2013, very fast in 2014~2038, and stable in 2039~2090. In the future, aging level of Shandong will be lower than developed countries in the world; the speed of aging will be faster than some developed countries; the period of adult population is very short; the dependency ratio will be low before 2030.

Education level of Shandong population has improved greatly and illiterate rate has decreased since reform. In 1990, illiterate rate of age 15 and older was 23.01%. The average year of schooling increased. The education level of employed population improved very much. In Shandong, the education level distribution is less satisfactory; industrial workers’ education level do not meet the demand of modern production; the education level of different regions is different, urban higher than rural; the difference of education level between regions is enlarging.

Shandong changed to a net in-migration province from a net out-migration province after reform, because the pulling of social-economic improvements of Shandong. The migration size of Shandong province will enlarge in the future; people will migrate mainly from rural to urban; the proportion of migration that caused by marriage will decrease.

Because of large population of Shandong Province, resource per capita is in inferior position. The land of Shandong degenerates greatly, and quality of land descends. Floods threaten the two river areas; land of coastal areas is weathered gravely by seawater. Though environment problems have been take care of at some extent, water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution are still very serious; and daily garbage leads to some pollution, too.

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