Shanxi, also Shansi or Shan-hsi, province, located in North China. It occupies a loess-covered plateau and has as its economic focus the Fen River valley, which widens to form the fertile and centrally located Taiyuan Basin. Mountainous areas ring the north, east, and west.

sheng (province) of northern China, bounded by the provinces of Hopeh to the east, Honan to the south and southeast, and Shensi to the west, and by the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region to the north. The two major urban areas are T'ai-yuan, the capital and leading industrial and mining complex; and Ta-t'ung, a mining and rail transport centre near the borders of Hopeh Province and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region

winter wheat, millet, soybeans, corn (maize), and some tobacco and peanuts (groundnuts) are cultivated. However, Shansi is China's largest provincial producer of cotton, and sesame is grown both for its oil seeds and for its fibre.

Major industrial towns are Taiyuan, Changzhi, Anyang and Sanmen.

Area 157,100 sq km (60,700 sq mi); population 32,970,000.

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