Origin of name 辽 liáo - Liaoyang
宁 níng - Ningyuan (now Xingcheng)
Administration type Province
Capital (and largest city) Shenyang
Area 145,900 km2 (21st)
Population (2004) 42,170,000 (14th)
- Density 289/km2 (15th)
GDP (2003) CNY 687.3 billion (8th)
- per capita CNY 16,300 (9th)
HDI (2005) 0.808 (high) (5th)
Major nationalities Han - 84%
Manchu - 13%
Mongol - 2%
Hui - 0.6%
Korean - 0.6%
Xibe - 0.3%
Prefecture-level 14 divisions
County-level 100 divisions
Township-level 1511 divisions
Liaoning (Simplified Chinese: 辽宁; Traditional Chinese: 遼寧; Pinyin: Liáoníng) is a northeastern province of the Peoples Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is Liao (辽 pinyin: liáo).
"Liáo" is an ancient name for this region, which was adopted by the Liao Dynasty (Khitan Empire) which ruled this area between 907 and 1125. "Níng" means "peacefulness". The modern province was established in 1907 as Fengtian province (奉天 pinyin: Fèngtiān; Postal map spelling: Fengtien) and the name was changed to Liaoning in 1929. Under the Japanese puppet Manchukuo regime, the province reverted to its old name, but the name Liaoning was restored in 1945.
Liaoning is located in the southern part of Chinas Northeast. Liaoning borders the Yellow Sea (Korea Bay) and the Bohai Gulf in the south, North Korea in the southeast, Jilin Province to the northeast, Hebei Province to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the northwest.
The Yalu River marks the border between North Korea and the Chinese provinces of Jilin and Liaoning. It empties into the Korea Bay between Dandong (Liaoning) and Siniju (North Korea).
