South China Explained

South China is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not native speakers of Standard Chinese. Cantonese is the most common language in the region while the Guangxi region contains the largest concentration of China's ethnic minorities.

Cities with urban area over one million in population

Provincial capitals in bold.

	City	Urban area	District area	City proper^[3]	Prov.	Census date
1	Shenzhen	10,358,381	10,358,381	10,358,381	GD	2010-11-01
2	Guangzhou	9,702,144	11,071,424	12,701,948	GD	2010-11-01
3	Dongguan	7,271,322	8,220,207	8,220,207	GD	2010-11-01
4	Hong Kong	7,071,576	7,071,576	7,071,576	HK	2011-06-30^[4]
5	Foshan	6,771,895	7,197,394	7,197,394	GD	2010-11-01
6	Shantou	3,644,017	5,329,024	5,389,328	GD	2010-11-01
7	Zhongshan	2,740,994	3,121,275	3,121,275	GD	2010-11-01
8	Nanning	2,660,833	3,434,303	6,658,742	GX	2010-11-01
9	Huizhou	1,807,858	2,344,634	4,598,402	GD	2010-11-01
10	Haikou	1,517,410	2,046,170	2,046,170	HI	2010-11-01
11	Jiangmen	1,480,023	1,822,614	4,450,703	GD	2010-11-01
12	Liuzhou	1,410,712	1,436,599	3,758,704	GX	2010-11-01
13	Zhuhai	1,369,538	1,562,530	1,562,530	GD	2010-11-01
14	Zhanjiang	1,038,762	1,611,868	6,994,832	GD	2010-11-01
15	Macau	552,503	552,503	552,503	MO	2011-08-12^[5]

Namesake

• South China tiger (southern China)
• South China Morning Post (Hong Kong, South China)
• Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market (Wuhan, Central China)

See also

• Lingnan
• List of regions of China
  • Southern China
    • South Central China — includes South China and "Central China" provincial-level subdivisions.

Notes and References

1. http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~chgis/work/design/chinastdb_1210.doc GB/T 2260 codes for the provinces of China
2. [ISO 3166-2:CN]
3. Book: 国务院人口普查办公室 . 国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司 . 2012 . zh:中国2010年人口普查分县资料 . Beijing . 中国统计出版社 [China Statistics Press] . 978-7-5037-6659-6 .
4. Book: Census and Statistics Department . Census and Statistics Department (Hong Kong) . 2012 . zh:香港2011年人口普查 – 主要報告 . Hong Kong . .
5. Book: Direcção dos Serviços de Estatística e Censos, Macau . 2012 . 15th Macau Census (2011) . Macau . Direcção dos Serviços de Estatística e Censos .