Hunan province is located in the south central part of Yangtze River. Hunan, meaning "south of the lake", was derived from the fact that the province is located south of the Dongting Lake, the second largest freshwater lake in China. It is also named Xiang for short because Xiangjiang River flowing through the whole province.

Geography
Surrounded by mountains in the east, south, west and Dongting Lake plain in the north, it's whole landform bears the resemblance to a hoof. The total area is 210,000 square km, and Changsha is its capital city. Hunan province has numerous lakes and rivers , 5,341 of which have the length of more than five kilometers with a total length of 90,000 kilometers and 17 of which have more than 5,000 square kilometers drainage areas.

Population & Climate
Hunan has a population of 66 million, and the major ethnic groups living in the province are Hans, Tujia, Miao, Dongs, Yaos, Huis, Uigurs and Zhuang.

Surrounded by high mountains to its east,south and west,it is largely low-lying and hilly in its central part, with the Dongting Lake Plain in its north Hunan has a humid subtropical monsoon climate, with humid summers,cold winters and abundant rainfall. The annual average temperature is between 60F - 65F with average rainfall between 1200-1700mm.

Toursim
There are 10 major tourist areas and over hundres of tourists sites in Hunan. Changsha, Yueyang and Fenghuang (Phoenix ancient town) are State- acknowledged historic and cultural cities. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, acclaimed as UNESCO world natural wonder. Mount Hengshan with unique beauty among five holy mountains in China. Shaoshan, the birthplace of late Chairman of China, Mao Zedong. Dongting Lake and Yueyang Tower standing by the lake are all well-known tourist destinations. With it's unique landscape and charming minority customs, Hunan is attracing more and more travelers from all over the world.