Unit 12 Western China
Lesson 45
1.2
Western China
Western China is a large and beautiful region.
It includes one major city,Chongqing,
six provinces,and five autonomous regions.
The six provinces are Sichuan,Shanxi,Gansu,
Yunnan,Qinghai and Guizhou.
The five autonomous regions are Tibet,
Ningxia Hui,Xinjiang Uygur,Guangxi Zhuang,
and Inner Mongolia among all these provinces
and autonomous regions,
Xinjiang is the largest region
and Ningxia is the smallest region.
Western China has an area
of 5,400,000 square kilometers.
This is about 56 percent of the total area
of the country.
However,there are many mountains,highlands,
and deserts,
and there are fewer rivers and lakes
than in the East.
Only 22.8 percent of the population of China
lives in the West,
far fewer people than those living in the East.
Western China has a lot of natural resources.
It is rich in oil and gas
and it has many different kinds of minerals.
Tourists like to visit the area.