HenanisaprovinceofthePeople'sRepublicofChina,locatedinthecentralpartofthecountry.Itsone-characterabbreviationisyu,namedafterYuzhouProvince,aHanDynastyprovince(zhou)thatincludedpartsofHenan.ThenameHenanmeans"southoftheYellowRiver"

　　Withnearly100millionpeople,HenanisthemostpopulousprovinceofChinabyresidency.ItbordersHebeitothenorth,Shandongtothenortheast,Anhuitothesoutheast,Hubeitothesouth,Shaanxitothewest,andShanxitothenorthwest.

　　HenanisoftencalledZhongyuanorZhongzhou,literally"centralplains"or"midland";thisnameisalsobroadlyappliedtotheentireNorthChinaPlain.HenanistraditionallyregardedasthecradleofChinesecivilization.

　　NorthernHenan,alongtheYellowRiver,wasthecoreareaofancientChinaforatleastthefirsthalfofChinesehistory.ThetwocitiesofLuoyangandKaifengeachservedasthecapitalcityofalonglistofdynasties.

　　ArchaeologicalsitesrevealthatprehistoricculturessuchastheYangshaoCultureandLongshanCulturewereactiveinwhatisnownorthernHenan.TheErlitouculture,whichhasbeencontroversiallyidentifiedwiththeXiaDynasty,thefirstChinesedynastyasdescribedinChineserecords,wasalsocenteredinHenan.

　　ThefirstliteratedynastyofChina,theShangDynasty(16th-11thcenturyBC),wascenteredinHenan.Theirlastcapital,Yin,waslocatedatthemoderncityofAnyang,Henan.

　　Henanisflatintheeastandmountainousinthewestandextremesouth.TheeasternandcentralpartsoftheprovinceformpartoftheNorthChinaPlain.TothenorthwesttheTaihangMountainsintrudepartiallyintoHenan'sborders;tothewesttheQinlingMountainsenterHenanfromthewestandendabouthalfwayacrossHenan,withbranches(suchastheFuniuMountains)extendingnorthwardsandsouthwards.Tothefarsouth,theDabieMountainsseparateHenanfromneighbouringHubeiprovince.

　　TheYellowRiverpassesthroughnorthernHenan.Itentersfromthenorthwest,viatheSanmenxiaReservoir.AfteritpassesLuoyang,theYellowRiverisraisedvianaturalsedimentationandartificialconstructionontoalevee,higherthanthesurroundingland.Fromhereonwards,theYellowRiverdividestheHaiHewatershedtothenorthandtheHuaiHewatershedtothesouth.TheHuaiHeitselforiginatesinsouthernHenan.ThesouthwesterncornerofHenan,aroundNanyang,ispartofthedrainagebasinoftheHanShuiRiveracrosstheborderinHubei.

　　TherearemanyreservoirsinHenan.MajoronesincludetheDanjiangkouReservoirontheborderwithHubei,theSanmenxiaReservoir,theSuyahuReservoir,theBaiguishanReservoir,theNanwanReservoir,andtheBanqiaoReservoir.

　　Henanhasatemperatecontinentalclimate,withmostrainfallinsummer.Temperaturesaverageabout0°CinJanuary,and27to28°CinJuly.

　　Zhengzhouistheprovince'scapitalandmostpopulouscity.OthermajorcitiesincludeKaifeng,Luoyang,Xinxiang,Anyang,Luohe,andXuchang.

　　HenanisthemostpopulousprovinceofChina,withapopulationof98,690,000in2004.Ifitwereitsowncountry,itwouldbethetwelfthmostpopulous,justbehindMexico.However,SichuanusedtobemorepopulousbeforeChongqingcitywascarvedoutofit.Also,whenconsideringmigrants,GuangdonghasthehighestpopulationinChina,despiteHainanbeingsplinteredoffofit.

　　Justunder99%ofHen