Xiangning County () is a

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 ...

in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

province across the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

to the west. It is under the administration of the

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 China ...

Linfen Linfen is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. It is situated along the banks of the Fen River. It has an area of and according to the 2020 Census, a population of 3,976, ...

. The county spans an area of , and is home to a population of 240,000 people as of 2013.

History

During the Spring and Autumn period, Marquis E of Jin lived in what is now present-day Xiangning County. In the Warring States period, the area had been occupied by both the

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

and Zhao states. During the

Northern Wei Dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

, the area was initially named Changping (), and was later changed to Pingchang (). Eventually, the name was changed to Changning (), but in 923 was changed to Xiangning (), its present-day name. From 1958 to 1961, Xiangning County was briefly merged with neighboring Ji County.

Geography

The county is located in the

Lüliang Mountains The Lüliang Mountains are a mountain range in central China, dividing Shanxi's Fen River valley from the Yellow River. The range forces the Yellow River southwards on the eastern side of the Ordos Loop but tapers off to the south, where the Fen t ...

of the

Loess Plateau The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surrounde ...

, and has a largely hilly terrain with an average elevation of about . The county's highest point is Gaotian Mountain (), which reaches in altitude; the county's lowest point is along the banks of the

, at in altitude. 38.2% of the county is forested.

Climate

Administrative divisions

Xiangning County is divided into five

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 ori ...

and five

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

. These are then divided into 182

village-level division The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...

s. The county's five towns are , , , , and . The county's five townships are , , , , and .

Economy

The county is home to a large coal field, which covers of the county's area. Said coal field is estimated to have 15.3 billion tons of coal in reserve. Xiangning also has a number of tourist sights, such as the , Yunqiu Mountain (), and a number of temples and pagodas. Major agricultural products from Xiangning include

Zanthoxylum ''Zanthoxylum'' is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the family Rutaceae that are native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type genus of the tribe Zanthoxyleae in ...

, apples, walnuts, Chinese yams, , and wine.

Transportation

National Highway 209 and National Highway 309 both run through the county, as well as three provincial highways.

References

{{Coord, 35, 58, 13, N, 110, 50, 49, E, region:CN-14_type:adm3rd_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title County-level divisions of Shanxi