Hubei

Province of central China, bounded to the north by Henan, to the east by Anhui, to the south by Jiangxi and Hunan, and to the west by Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces; area 187,500 sq km/72,375 sq mi; population (2000 est) 60,280,000. The capital is Wuhan; other major cities and towns are Huangshi, Shashi, Yichang, and Xiangfan. The main industries are the mining of copper, gypsum, iron ore, coal, phosphorus, and salt; and the production of steel, machinery, domestic appliances, textiles, food processing, and fibre-optic cables. Agriculture is based on the cultivation of rice, cotton, rapeseed, wheat, beans, and vegetables.

Hubei occupies an important location at the crossing of the land route from Beijing to the south of China with the Chang Jiang River, a major east–west artery. It developed as an industrial centre after the mid-19th century when the Chang Jiang was opened to foreign-owned steamships, and Hankou (now Wuhan) and other ports on the river were opened for foreign trade and settlement.