Henan

Henan^[a] is a province in Central China. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng and Zhengzhou, are in Henan.^[10] Henan is China's third-most populous province and the most populous among inland provinces, with a population of over 99 million as of 2020. It is the world's seventh-most populous administrative division. People from Henan sometimes underwent discrimination within China.^[11][12]

Henan has the 5th-largest provincial economy in China, the largest in Central China and among inland provinces, with a nominal GDP of CN¥5.88 trillion (US$926 billion) in 2021, surpassing that of Turkey (US$815 billion).^[13][14] If it was a country, it would be the 18th-largest economy by nominal GDP as of 2021.^[15] Henan hosts more than 150 institutions of higher education, ranking first in Central China.^[16] As of 2025, three cities in the province ranked in the top 140 cities in the world by scientific research output (Zhengzhou 58th, Kaifeng 136th and Xinxiang 138th) as tracked by the Nature Index.^[17]

Regarded by some as one of the cradles of Chinese civilization along with the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, Henan is known for its historical prosperity and periodic downturns.^[18] The economic prosperity resulted from its somewhat fertile plains and its location at the heart of the country. Its strategic location also means that it has undergone more wars compared to certain other regions in China. The floods of the Yellow River have caused damage from time to time.^[19]

Archaeological sites reveal that prehistoric cultures such as the Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture were active in what later is northern Henan since the Neolithic Era. The later Erlitou culture has been controversially identified with the Xia dynasty, the first and mostly legendary Chinese dynasty.^[20]

In the 11th century BC, the Zhou dynasty of Shaanxi arrived from the west and overthrew the Shang dynasty.^[21] During the Western Zhou period (c. 1046 – 771 BC), the capital and political and economical center was moved away from Henan for the first time. The Spring and Autumn period, a period of warfare and rivalry, began in 721 BC. What later is Henan and all of China was divided into independent states, which are at war for control of the central plain. While regarded formally as the ruler of China, the control that Zhou king in Luoyang exerted over the feudal kingdoms had virtually disappeared. Laozi, the founder of Taoism, was born in northern Chu, part of what later is Henan.^[22]

The Sui dynasty reunified China in 589 with its capital back in Chang'an. It collapsed due to Sui Emperor Yang's costly attempt to relocate the capital from Chang'an to Luoyang and the construction of extravagant palaces there.^[23]

The Tang dynasty lasted for three centuries before it eventually succumbed to internal strife. In the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960) that followed, Kaifeng in eastern Henan became the capital of four dynasties. The Song dynasty that reunified China in 982 also had its capital at Kaifeng. Under Song rule, Kaifeng overtook Luoyang and Chang'an as the largest city in China and in the world.^[24]

Kaifeng served as the Jurchen's "southern capital" from 1157 (other sources say 1161) and was reconstructed during this time.^[25][26]

The Qing dynasty was overthrown by the 1911 Revolution and then the Republic of China was established in 1912,^[27] during which a man from Henan, Yuan Shikai, played a role and thus became the first president of Republic of China.^[28]

In 1938, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, when the Imperial Japanese Army captured Kaifeng, the government led by Chiang Kai-shek bombed the Huayuankou dam in Zhengzhou in order to prevent Japanese forces from advancing further.^[29] This caused flooding in Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. In 1942 Henan was hit by the Chinese famine of 1942-43 resulting from a mix of drought, locusts and destruction caused by the war.^[30]

In 1954, the government of the People's Republic of China moved the capital of Henan from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou,^[31] as a result of its economic importance. The PRC had earlier established a Pingyuan Province consisting of what later is northern Henan and western Shandong with Xinxiang as its capital. This province was abolished in 1952.^[32]

In 1958, Yashan in Suiping County, Henan, became the first people's commune of China, heralding the beginning of the "Great Leap Forward".^[33] In the subsequent famines of the 1960s, which are attributed to the Great Leap Forward, millions of people died in Henan.^[34] Suffering under famine and economic chaos caused by the Great Leap, locals in Henan offered resistance mostly through banditry.^[35] In 1959, a peasant uprising erupted and was defeated after twenty days of fighting.^[36]

A destructive flooding of the Huai River in the summer of 1950 prompted construction of dams on its tributaries in central and southern Henan. Some of the dams were not able to withstand the levels of rainfall caused by Typhoon Nina in August 1975. Sixty-two dams, the largest of which was the Banqiao Dam in Biyang County collapsed; flooding, spread over counties throughout Zhumadian Prefecture and further downstream, killed at least 26,000 people.^[37][38] Unofficial human life loss estimates, including deaths from the ensuing epidemics and famine, range as high as 85,600,^[37] 171,000^[39] or 230 000.^[37] This is considered the most deadly dam-related disaster in human history.^[37]

In July 2021, rainfall caused flooding, killing 302 and damaging amounting to 82 billion yuan.^[40]

Henan's landscape include floodplains in the east and mountains in the west. Most of the province forms part the North China Plain, an area known as the "breadbasket of China". The Taihang Mountains intrude partially into Henan's northwestern borders from Shanxi, forming the eastern edge of Loess Plateau. To the west the Xionger and Funiu Mountains form a network of mountain ranges and plateaus, supporting one of the remaining temperate deciduous forests which once covered all of Henan. The Mount Song and its Shaolin Temple is located in the far east of the region, near the capital city Zhengzhou. To the far south, the Dabie Mountains divides Hubei from Henan. The Nanyang Basin, separated from North China Plain by these mountains, is another agricultural and population center, with culture and history distinct from the rest of Henan and closer to that of Hubei's. Unlike the rest of northern China, desertification is not a problem in Henan, while sandstorms are in cities near the Yellow River due to sand present in the river. At 2413.8 meters above sea level, the highest point in Henan province is Laoyachanao.^[41]

The Yellow River passes through central Henan. It enters from the northwest, via the Sanmenxia Reservoir. After it passes Luoyang, the mountains gave way to plains. Sediments are formed due to the silt it picks up from the Loess Plateau, raising the river bed and causing floods which shaped the habitat of the region. Later, construction of dams and levees, and the depletion of water resources have ended the floods. The Huai River in southern Henan is another river, and has been recognized as part of the boundary dividing northern and southern Chinese climate and culture.^[42]

Henan is divided into seventeen prefecture-level divisions: all prefecture-level cities; along with one directly administered county-level city (a sub-prefecture-level city):

These 17 prefecture-level cities and one directly administered county-level city of Henan are in turn subdivided into 157 county-level divisions (54 districts, 21 county-level cities, and 82 counties; the sub-prefecture-level city of Jiyuan is counted as a county-level city here). Those are in turn divided into 2454 township-level divisions (1181 towns, 598 townships, twelve ethnic townships, and 663 subdistricts).

With a population of approximately 98.2 million, Henan is the third most populous Chinese province after Guangdong and Shandong. It is the fifth most populous sub-national division in the world. If it was a country by itself, it would be the twelfth most populous in the world, behind Mexico and ahead of the Philippines. The hukou system shows Henan as the most populous province in China with over 103 million people, as it counts the migrant Henanese laborers as residents of Henan, instead of the province they reside in. 85.14 million are considered permanent residents of their registered households.^[59]

Henan exhibits demographic statistics indicative of a late stage in the demographic transition model. It has a birth rate of 7.06, decreasing from 9.24 in 2020 and 12.70 in 2015, while an aging population possibly explains an uptick in the death rate to 8.00 from 7.05 in 2015, and its overall population is experiencing a decreasing natural growth rate, ticking into the negatives at -.94% in 2023.^[59] This, in combination with consistent out-migration, can explain Henan’s slower population growth. The life expectancy is 77.6 years, matching nationwide numbers. Most households in Henan have between 2-4 people. 64.47% of the population can be considered working age–between 15 and 64, with a gross dependency ratio of 54.4%.^[59] This is similar to national levels, as China has a glut of 20s-to-middle-aged people exactly within working age.^[60]

Henan hosts an urban population of 57.01 million, a 58% urbanization rate, below that of China’s national average of 67%. It is a jump from 2014 when the urban population was 43.45 million.^[59] This urbanization process can be mostly attributed to internal migration from rural areas within Henan as overall population grew by less than 2 million in that same time frame. Among Chinese provinces, Henan's per-capita GDP ranks 25 out of 31.^[61] Per-capita disposable income averages out close to the national statistic of 31.5k yuan, while regional discrimination persists against Henanese for being poor and association with criminality.^[62][59]

98.8% of the population is Han. Populations of Mongols and Manchus exist in scattered rural communities, and urban centers. Along with Jiangxi, Henan has one of the most unbalanced gender ratios in China. As a result of the Chinese government's one-child policy (some parents do not want the only child to be female and abort the fetus), the gender ratio was 118.46 males for 100 females in 2000. Subsequently, aborting fetuses due to their female sex was banned in Henan and fines are issued for those who violate the law. The ratio decreased to 117.8 in 2010 and down to 108.4 in 2020.^[59] Daughter-only families receive an annual allowance from the government.^[63] Based on a 2009 British Medical Journal study, the ratio is over 140 boys for every 100 girls in the 1–4 age group;^[64] this might be an exaggeration, as some families with more than one child do not register their daughters to the hukou in order to escape fines. The National Bureau of Statistics of China reports that to have decreased to 100.57 in 2023, presenting a conflicting narrative from outside sources.^[59]

The government is an employer in Henan. Its largest sectors include manufacturing, public bureaucracy, education, and construction.^[59] This generally mirrors larger trends across China such as the CCP’s Made in China 2025 plan to keep Chinese manufacturing central to the global supply chain.^[65] Public administration is a sector umbrellaing public servant jobs such as social security and public management. It has employed fewer and fewer numbers year-over-year since 2020. In the public sector, reported numbers show urban employment is dominated by retail. This is reflected in gross regional product numbers by industry, with Henan’s largest value-added contributors from secondary (manufacturing) and tertiary (services) industry.^[59]

According to a 2012 survey, around 13% of the population of Henan belongs to organised religions, the largest groups being Buddhists with 6.4%, followed by Protestants with 5.6%, Muslims with 1.3% and Catholics with 0.5%.^[66]

Henan has the largest Christian population by numbers and percentage of any province of China,^[66] 6.1% of the province's population as of 2012, corresponding to approximately 7 million Christians. A 2009 survey reported the share of Christians to be 9.33%.^[67] In 2019, Communist officials demolished the True Jesus Church near Zhumadian.^[68] In 2020, Communist officials demolished the Sunzhuang Church.^[69]

The reports didn't give figures for other types of religion; 86% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Confucianism, Taoism and folk religious sects (for example, a sect that is endogenous to Henan is the Tianxian miaodao). According to a 2007 survey, approximately 8% of the Henanese believe in and are involved in ancestor veneration, the traditional Chinese religion of the lineages organised into lineage churches and ancestral shrines.^[67]

Henan is the 5th-largest provincial economy of China, the second largest in South Central China after Guangdong, the largest in Central China and the largest among inland provinces, with a nominal GDP of 5.88 trillion RMB (US$926 billion) as of 2021, ahead of the GDP of Turkey of 815 billion.^[13][14] If it was a country, it would be the 18th-largest economy by nominal GDP and the 17th most populous as of 2021.^[15]

Mining-related industries are a part of Henan's economy.^[70]: 23 Henan has the second largest molybdenum reserves in the world. Coal, aluminum, alkaline metals and tungsten are present in larger amounts in western Henan. Henan houses limestone reserves estimated over 24 billion tons.^[71]

Henan has planned its economy around the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, and it is hoped that the province may become an important transportation and manufacturing hub in the years to come.^[72]

The 2021 Henan floods inflicted an estimated US$12.7 billion of economic damage in Henan.^[73]

Advances in Henan transportation system may be attributed to Henan's location at the heart of central China's construction boom. The Jingguang and Longhai Railways run through the province and intersect at Zhengzhou. Other railway hubs such as Shangqiu, Xinxiang, and Luohe have also become centers of trade and manufacturing as a result.^[74]

Henan hosts more than 156 higher education institutions, ranking first in the Central China region, ranked second in South Central China after Guangdong and third among all Chinese provinces/municipalities after Jiangsu and Guangdong.^[16] As of 2025, three cities in the province ranked in the top 140 cities in the world (Zhengzhou 58th, Kaifeng 136th and Xinxiang 138th) by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index.^[75] Along with Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Henan is one of the three Chinese provinces with at least three cities that are among the top 140 in the world by scientific research output.^[75]

• List of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Henan
• Politics of Henan

• Rummel, Rudolph J. (1991). China's Bloody Century: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900. New Brunswick; London: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-88738-417-X.
• Smith, S. A. (2015). "Redemptive Religious Societies and the Communist State, 1949 to the 1980s". In Jeremy Brown; Matthew D. Johnson (eds.). Maoism at the Grassroots: Everyday Life in China's Era of High Socialism. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp. 340–364. ISBN 978-0-674-28720-4.
• Economic profile for Henan at HKTDC

• Henan Government website (in Chinese)