Hainan

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Hainan is an island and the southernmost province of China, consisting of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. Its name has the literal meaning: "South of the Sea". The province has a land area of 33,920 square kilometers

(13,100 sq mi), of which Hainan Island is 32,900 square kilometers (12,700 mi2) 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 1988, Hainan was made a province of its own. As part of the reform and opening up program, it was designated as a special economic zone by Deng Xiaoping. The Han population, who compose a majority of the population at 82%, speak a wide variety of languages including Standard Chinese, Hainam Min, Yue Chinese, Cantonese, Hakka Chinese, etc. Indigenous peoples such as the Hlai, a Kra–Dai-speaking ethnic group, are native to the island and compose 15% of the population. Their native languages include the Hlai languages. The Hlai are recognized by the Chinese government as one of the country's 56 ethnic groups. Speakers of Be, despite speaking a Kra-Dai language, are...

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