Shaanxi

Shaanxi (Chinese:陕西, also sometimes called Shenshi) is a province in northwest China. The word "Shaan" (viz Shanzhou) is a place in Henan Province. "Xi" means "west". So "Shaanxi" means "the place to the west of Shaan". 

Although in pinyin, "Shaanxi" is spelled exactly the same as "Shanxi", the only difference in how the two words are pronounced is that the first syllable in "Shanxi" is said using the first tone in Mandarin, while the first syllable in "Shaanxi" is said with the third tone. Since tone markers are not usually used to show how to pronounce the two different names, the first word in "Shaanxi" is spelled using the Gwoyeu Romatzyh method instead, which indicates tones by adding extra letters to a syllable.

The river Wei He runs across it. It has a large population of more than 30 million people. The capital of Shaanxi is Xi'an. It abbreviates as Shan (陕) or Qin (秦), also known as SanQin (三秦, meaning Three Qins).

 History 
January 23, 1556 – A massive earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, strikes Shaanxi, killing over 850,000 people. This is the most devastating earthquake in recorded history.

 Political divisions 
Shaanxi Province is divided into ten municipalities:

 Xi'an Municipality(西安市)
 Ankang Municipality(安康市)
 Baoji Municipality(宝鸡市)
 Hanzhong Municipality(汉中市)
 Shangluo Municipality(商洛市)
 Tongchuan Municipality(铜川市)
 Weinan Municipality(渭南市)
 Xianyang Municipality(咸阳市)
 Yan'an Municipality(延安市)
 Yulin Municipality(榆林市)


Category:997
Category:10th-century establishments in Asia
Category:1st-millennium establishments in China