Guizhou

It is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang. Guizhou was well known by the Chinese for thousands of years but it was not until the Ming dynasty that it came under Chinese domination during which it was made a province. This prompted mass migration from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou. Countless rebellions by its native Miao people occurred throughout the Qing dynasty. It was said in the Qing dynasty that every thirty years there would be minor revolts, while every sixty years there would be major rebellions. All the revolts would be violently suppressed by the government. Guizhou is a relatively poor and undeveloped province. It also has a small economy compared to the coastal provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2004 was 159.2 billion yuan (19.75 billion USD). Its per capita GDP of 3568 RMB (470 USD) ranks last in all of the PRC. Its natural industry includes timber and forestry. Other important industries in the province include energy (electricity generation) and mining, especially in coal, limestone, arsenic, gypsum, and oil-shale. Guizhou's total output of coal was 110 million tons in 2005, a 12% growth from the previous year.