Heilongjiang, also Heilungkiang or Hei-lung-chiang, province in Northeast China, on the northeastern border with Russia; comprising the northern portion of the historic region of Manchuria. Heilungkiang is bounded on the north and east by Russia along the Amur (Hei-lung) River and Ussuri (Wu-su-li) River, on the west by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, and on the south by the Chinese province of Kirin.

The Manchu dynasty had forbidden Chinese settlement in the region, so the Han Chinese did not settle here until the mid-19th century. For centuries, the Russians had exerted considerable influence over the region; its borders were first disputed by China and Russia in the 17th century. The Russians occupied the area from 1900 to 1917.

Heilungkiang's main industrial centres include the railway centre of Chia-mu-ssu, which produces threshing machines, pressing machines, grain sowers, combines, mining machinery, and electrical and telecommunication equipment. Heavy industry in the capital includes industrial machinery, machine tools, agricultural machinery, and the production of chemicals, fertilizers, textiles, lumber, and construction materials.

Major industrial towns are Qiqihar, Daqing, Hegang, Harbin, Mudanjiang, Jixi, Mishan, Qitaihe, Jaimusi, Hegang, Bei'an, Fujin, Shuangyashan and blagoveshchensk.

Area 463,600 sq km (179,000 sq mi); population 36,890,000.

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