Sichuan

Sichuan 四川
Province
Province of Sichuan
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	四川省 (Sìchuān shěng)
• Abbreviation	SC / 川 (Chuān)
Clockwise: Skyline of Chengdu Huanglong Giant pandas Mount Emei Leshan Giant Buddha
Location of Sichuan in China
Country	China
Capital (and largest city)	Chengdu
Divisions	21 prefectures, 181, 5011
Government
• Type	Province
• Body	Sichuan Provincial People's Congress
• Party Secretary	Wang Xiaohui
• Congress chairman	Wang Xiaohui
• Governor	Shi Xiaolin
• CPPCC chairwoman	Tian Xiangli
• National People's Congress Representation	147 deputies
Area [1]
• Total	485,000 km2 (187,000 sq mi)
• Rank	5th
Highest elevation (Mount Gongga)	7,556 m (24,790 ft)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	83,674,866
• Rank	5th
• Density	170/km2 (450/sq mi)
• Rank	22nd
Demographics
• Ethnic composition	Han – 95% Yi – 2.6% Tibetan – 1.5% Qiang – 0.4% Others – 0.5%
• Languages and dialects	Southwestern Mandarin (Sichuanese) Khams Tibetan Hakka Chinese
GDP (2023)[3]
• Total	CN¥6,013 billion (5th; US$853 billion)
• Per capita	CN¥71,835 (20th; US$10,194)
ISO 3166 code	CN-SC
HDI (2022)	0.762[4] (22nd) – high
Website	www.sc.gov.cn

Sichuan
"Sichuan" in Chinese characters
Chinese name
Chinese	四川
Postal	Szechwan
Literal meaning	"Four Plains"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sìchuān Bopomofo ㄙˋ ㄔㄨㄢ Wade–Giles Szŭ4-chʻuan1 Yale Romanization Sz̀-chwān IPA [sɹ̩̂.ʈʂʰwán] ⓘ other Mandarin Sichuanese Pinyin Si4-cuan1 Wu Romanization Sy3-tshoe1 Hakka Romanization Si-tshôn Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sei-chyūn Jyutping Sei3-cyun<1 IPA [sej˧.tsʰyn˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sù-chhoan Tâi-lô Sì-tshuan
Tibetan name
Tibetan	སི་ཁྲོན་
Transcriptions Wylie si khron Tibetan Pinyin Sichoin
Yi name
Yi	ꌧꍧ syp chuo

Sichuan^[a] is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Chengdu, and its population stands at 83 million. Sichuan neighbors Qinghai and Gansu to the north, Shaanxi and Chongqing to the east, Guizhou and Yunnan to the south, and Tibet to the west.

During antiquity, Sichuan was home to the kingdoms of Ba and Shu until their incorporation by the Qin. During the Three Kingdoms era (220–280), Liu Bei's state of Shu was based in Sichuan. The area was devastated in the 17th century by Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion and the area's subsequent Manchu conquest, but recovered to become one of China's most productive areas by the 19th century. During World War II, Chongqing served as the temporary capital of the Republic of China, and was heavily bombed. It was one of the last mainland areas captured by the People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War, and was divided into four parts from 1949 to 1952, with Chongqing restored two years later. It suffered gravely during the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) but remained China's most-populous province until Chongqing was again separated from it in 1997.

The Sichuanese people speak distinctive dialects of Mandarin Chinese. The spicy Sichuan pepper is prominent in modern Sichuan cuisine, featuring dishes—including Kung Pao chicken and mapo tofu, that have become staples of Chinese cuisine around the world. There are many panda stations in the province and large reserves for these creatures, such as the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Sichuan is the 6th-largest provincial economy of China, the largest in Western China, and the second-largest among inland provinces after Henan. As of 2021, its nominal GDP was CN¥5,385 billion (US$847.68 billion), ahead of that of Turkey ($815 billion).^[6][7] If it were its own country, Sichuan would be the 18th-largest economy and 19th-most populous as of 2021.^[8]

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