Hainan

Hainan is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China, consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. Hainan Island, the largest and most populous island in China, makes up the vast majority of the province. The name means "south of the sea", reflecting the island's position south of the Qiongzhou Strait, which separates it from Leizhou Peninsula and the Chinese mainland.

The province has a land area of 33,920 square kilometers, of which Hainan Island is 32,900 square kilometers and the rest is over 200 islands scattered across three archipelagos: Zhongsha, Xisha and Nansha. It was part of Guangdong from 1950 to 1988, after which it was made a province of its own and was designated as a special economic zone by Deng Xiaoping, as part of the Chinese economic reform program.