Geography

Geographical Location

Jilin Province is located in the geographic center of Northeast Asia, the hinterland of Northeast China. It lies on the east longitude 121° 38′ ～131°19′ and the north latitude 40° 50′～46°19′, 769.62 kilometers long from west to east and 606.57 kilometers wide from north to south. It is adjacent to Liaoning Province in south, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in west and Heilongjiang Province in north; it remains contiguous to Russia in east and borders the Democratic People's Republic of Korea along the Tumen River and the Yalu River in southeast.

Jilin Province borders the coastal waters and the border line is 1,438.7 kilometers in total, including China-North Korea border line of 1,206 kilometers and China-Russia border line of 232.7 kilometers. Huichun City at the eastern tip of Jilin Province is only 15 kilometers away from the Sea of Japan and 4 kilometers away from the Posyeta Bay of Russia.

Topography and Geomorphology

The topographic features have significant differences in Jilin Province. The terrain tilts from southeast to northwest, with an obvious feature that the southeast is high and the northwest is low. Dahei Mountain in the middle divides the mid-west plain into two landforms, central terrace plain and mid-west plain. The eastern mountain area is divided into Changbai Mountain middle and low mountain area and low mountain and hill area and the mid-west plain is divided into central terrace plain and west meadow, lake, wetland and, sand area. Geomorphic types are mainly composed of volcanic landform, erosion landform, alluvial proluvial plain and alluvial plain. Main mountain ranges include Dahei Mountain, Zhangguangcai Ridge, Jilin Hada Mountain, Laoling Mountain and Mudanling Mountain. Main plains include the Songnen Plain and the Liaohe Plain. In the province's total area, mountains accounts for 36%, plains accounts for 30%, tableland accounts for 28.2% and others are hills.

Climate Characteristics

Jilin Province is located in the east of the Eurasian continent and pertains to the temperate continental monsoon climate, with clear change of four seasons and a hot rainy season. The spring is dry and windy, the summer is warm and rainy, the autumn is cool and pleasant and the winter is cool and long. From southeast to northwest, it shifts from humid climate to semi-humid climate and then to semi-dry climate. Across the province, air temperature, rainfall, temperature, wind and meteorological disasters are remarkably varying from seasons and regions. Average annual temperature is 2℃～6℃, which is low in mountainous regions and higher in plains. Average temperature in the summer is below -11℃ and average temperature of plains in summer is above 23℃. Annual temperature different in the province ranges 35～42℃ and daily different is generally between 10～14℃. Annual frost free period is 100 to 160 days. Average annual sunshine hits 2,259 to 3,016 hours. Annual rainfall is 400 to 600 mm, but it remains a big difference in season and regions. 80% of rainfall is in summer, with the most rainfall in the northeastern region. In normal years, sunlight, heat and water can be favorable for growth of crops.

(updated to July 2, 2015)

(from http://english.jl.gov.cn)