Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) 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 southern

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 A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

, China. It borders

Xinyang Xinyang (; postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. Its total population was 6,234,401 according to the 2020 census. As of ...

to the south,

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

to the west,

Pingdingshan Pingdingshan (), also known as Eagle City ( zh, s=鹰城, p=Yīngchéng, t=鷹城), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,756,333 lived in the built-up (or metro) a ...

to the northwest,

Luohe Luohe (; postal: Loho) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It is surrounded by the cities of Xuchang, Zhoukou, Zhumadian and Pingdingshan on its north, east, south and west respectively. Its population was 2,367,490 ...

to the north,

Zhoukou Zhoukou (; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Zhumadian to the southwest, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Kaifeng to the northwest, Shangqiu to the north ...

to the northeast, and the province of

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

to the east. As of the

2020 Chinese census The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh national census conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Census w ...

, its total population was 7,008,427 inhabitants whom 1,466,913 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Yicheng District and Suiping County now conurbated. It was once the center of the Cai state during the

Eastern Zhou The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. History In 770 ...

era. The state leaves its name in several of the subdivisions including Shangcai County and Xincai County.

Administrative divisions

The

of Zhumadian administers 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 ...

and 9

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

. * Yicheng District () * Runan County () * Pingyu County () * Xincai County () * Shangcai County () *

Xiping County Xiping County () is a county in the southeast-central part of Henan province in the People's Republic of China. It is the northernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Zhumadian. Xiping covers an area of and has 840,000 inhab ...

() * Suiping County () * Queshan County () * Zhengyang County () * Biyang County ()

Geography

Zhumadian is situated at 32° 18'−33° 35' N latitude, and 113° 10'−115° 12' E longitude, with a maximum east–west width of , and at most long from south to north. The area of the prefecture is , occupying 8.9% of the total provincial area. Neighbouring prefectures are: *

Fuyang, Anhui () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Bozhou to the northeast, Huainan to the southeast, Lu'an to the south, and the province of Henan on all other sides. Its population was 8,200,264 inhabitants at th ...

(E) *Xinyang (S) *Nanyang (W) *Pingdingshan (NW) *Luohe (N) *Zhoukou (NE) The terrain is dominated by mountains, hills, hillocks, and plains.

Climate

Zhumadian has a four-season,

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

-influenced

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen ''Cwa''), with cold, somewhat damp, winters, and hot, humid summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, while the annual mean is . More than 60% of the annual precipitation of occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 39% in March to 46% in four months, the city receives 1,927 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Agriculture

Mainly

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small an ...

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cul ...

green bean Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

s and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

Culture

Zhumadian has a rich cultural history and the birthplace of many great people in ancient times . There is an old site of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai who are the characters in '' the Butterfly Lovers'', a famous Chinese story. Zhumadian is the location of Mount Chaya, a major geological site of interest and tourist attraction.

Dams

Zhumadian has 62 different

dams A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

including Banqiao Dam within its territory. The failure of the Banqiao and

Shimantan Dam The Banqiao Reservoir Dam () is a dam on the River Ru (), a tributary of the Hong River in Zhumadian City, Henan province, China. The Banqiao dam and Shimantan Reservoir Dam () are among 62 dams in Zhumadian that failed catastrophically in 1975 d ...

s in 1975, which caused more than 150,000 casualties and made more than 10 million people homeless, is considered the biggest catastrophe of its kind.

Transportation

One of the Chinese main highways,

China National Highway 107 China's National Highway 107 runs from Beijing to Hong Kong SAR via Wuhan. It runs to approximately 2,698 km, and, on a map, runs broadly on a straight line from Beijing to Shenzhen. In 2013, under a new 2013-2030 plan by the National Devel ...

, runs through Zhumadian. Zhumadian also has its own transportation system.

References

External links

Government website of Zhumadian
(in Simplified Chinese) {{Authority control Cities in Henan Prefecture-level divisions of Henan