A province of northeastern China, Jilin (or Kirin) lies in the country’s Northeast region, which was formerly known as Manchuria. Jilin is bordered on the east by Russia, on the southeast by North Korea, and on all other sides by other parts of China—on the south by Liaoning Province, on the west by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and on the north by Heilongjiang Province. Jilin has an area of 72,200 square miles (187,000 square kilometers). Its capital and largest city is Changchun, a major center of the Chinese automobile industry. The city of Jilin is the province’s second largest urban area.
The province has three natural regions: the eastern mountains, the western plains, and a zone of rolling hills that lies between them. The mountain region consists of parallel ranges separated by wide valleys. The Changbai Mountains, along the border with North Korea, include the region’s highest peaks. The elevation decreases to the west, with northwestern Jilin lying within the low, broad Northeast Plain. The Sungari (Songhua) River, flowing for almost 500 miles (800 kilometers) within the province, is Jilin’s main stream. It is a tributary of the Amur River of China and Russia. During the cold, five-month winter the ice on the Sungari is thick enough to support mule carts. There are five warm and rainy months from May to September.
As in China as a whole, the Han Chinese make up the majority of the population. The next largest ethnic groups are the Koreans, Manchu, and Mongolians.
Many valuable wild animals and medicinal plants are found in Jilin’s forested mountain areas. The province is a rich agricultural region, producing such food crops as corn (maize), rice, grain sorghum, millet, and soybeans. Sugar beets and tobacco are important commercial crops. Jilin’s industries are well developed and are concentrated in the cities of Changchun and Jilin. The chief products include automobiles, chemicals, machine tools, hydroelectric power, timber, and paper.
Jilin became a province in 1907, near the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Japanese army occupied Jilin and the rest of Manchuria in 1931. Just before Japan’s surrender to the Allies in World War II in August 1945, Soviet forces entered the region. Following their withdrawal, Chinese Nationalists moved in, but by 1948 they had been driven out by Chinese communist troops. Jilin industrialized rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. Population (2010) 27,462,297.