Population:26.2 million
Urban population: 7.5 million
Nationalities: Han, Hui, Tibetan, Dongxiang, Yugur, Baonan, Mongolian, Kazak, Tu, Salar and Manchu
Area: 390,000 square kilometers
Altitude: mostly above 1,000 meters
Climatic features: subtropical, humid climate in the east changes to a temperate, dry climate in the west; cold, humid, highland climate in the Oilian Mountains; temperatures shift greatly from day to night as well as from season to season in the central and western parts of the province.
Average temperatures: -14oC to 3oC in January, 11oC to 27oC in July
Annual average rainfall: 30 - 860 mm; precipitation decreases sharply north of the 37th parallel north latitude; 50-70 percent of the rain falls during the summer
Physical features: the Qinghai-Tibet, Loess, and Inner Mongolia Plateaus adjoin the province, where the plateaus meet is a narrow, 1,000-kilometer passage, the Hexi or Gansu Corridor, which was part of the ancient Silk Road leading to the Western Regions, present-day Xinjiang and areas further to the west.
Mountains: Oilian Range along the central part of the Gansu-Qinghai border; Beishan Mountains in the north; Dieshan-Minshan Mountains in the southwest
Rivers: Yellow River and tributaries, Weihe and Taohe Rivers; Bailong River in the south; Heihe, Shule and other inland rivers in the Hexi Corridor
Products: wheat, highland barley, millet, broomcorn millet, potatoes, corn, sorghum, rice, rape, soybeans, sugar beet; cotton; sun-cured tobacco; muskmelons, wool, leather; sausage casing; coal, petroleum, nickel, copper, sulphur, zinc
Administrative divisions: 2 autonomous prefectures, 13 cities, 60 counties and 7 autonomous counties
Capital: Lanzhou
Neighboring areas: Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai Provinces, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia Hui and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions
Neighboring country: Mongolia
Major cities: Lanzhou, Jiayuguan, Tianshui, Yumen, Dunhuang, Jinchang
Tourist attractions: Dunhuang, a post on the former Silk Road, famous for its Mogao Grottoes; the Jiayuguan Pass, an important outpost in ancient China and the western terminus of the Great Wall
