In ancient times, South China was regarded as a remote region. Its culture, which evolved over centuries, differs much from that of Central China. Long periods of geograph-ical separation have resulted in sharp regional differences and diverse dialects.
The Pearl River, the largest river in South China, is the name given to the West River, East River and the North Riv-er, which run from three different directions into the estuary. The Pearl River is not a very long, with its longest branch, the West River, being only 2,200 km in length.
The islands of Taiwan and Hainan are the only provinces of China outside the mainland. Taiwan includes the Taiwan and its neighboring islands of Penghu and Diaoyu. Taiwan is China's largest island. It has an area of 36,000 sq km and a population of more than 22 million.
Many rare animals and plants can still be found in South-west China. The giant panda is among the world's tarest animals and considered a "National Treasure" of China. Fossils prove that giant pandas inhabited the earth mil-lions of years ago and were distributed almost throughout China's southern provinces.
The Hong Kong SAR is situated east of the Pearl River's estuary. Divided into Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Penin-sula and the New Territories, it has a land area of 1,098 sq km and a population of more than 6.6 million, 98 percent of whom are Chinese.[1]
