Suizhou (), formerly Sui County (), is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of Chi ...

in northern

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

province, People's Republic of China, bordering

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

province to the north and east.

Etymology

The Sui in Suizhou is derived from the ancient 'Suishizu' () .

Administration

The

of Suizhou administers 5 county-level divisions, including 1

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

, 1

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

, 1

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and 2 other areas. * Zengdu District () * Guangshui City () * Sui County () * Suizhou Economic Development Area () * Dahongshan Scenic Area () These are further divided into 54 township-level divisions, including 36

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...

, 11 townships and 7

subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, In ...

History

Suizhou has a long history. During the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period (771−221 BCE), it was the territory of the State of Sui/Zeng and within the cultural sphere of the State of Chu. As a

Suizhou has a short history with its current status only granted by the State Council in June 2000.

Climate

Religion

The Catholic minority is pastorally served by its own (dormant?) pre-diocesan Apostolic Prefecture of Suixian () which is exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

(and its missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

. It was established on 1937.06.17 as Apostolic Prefecture of Suixian () / Suihsien / Suihsienen(sis) (Latin adjective), on territory split off from the

Apostolic Vicariate of Hankou The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou ( la, Hancheuvensis, ) is a Latin Rite Metropolitan archdiocese, based in Hankou, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Its archiepiscopal see is the Cathedral of St. Joseph, in Hankou, Wuhan. It is since 1961, due to th ...

(). It is vacant since 1951, without apostolic administrator since 1981, having had only the following incumbents : * Father Patrick Maurice Connaughton (), Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (born Ireland) (1937.06.17 – retired 1951.03), died 1967 * ''

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

Friar Dominic Chen Te-mien, O.F.M. (1951.04.05 – 1981), no ther Ordinariate.

Transport

Suizhou is served by the Hankou–Danjiangkou Railway.

References

Sources and external links

Government website of Suizhou

{{Authority control Cities in Hubei Prefecture-level divisions of Hubei