or Hai-nan
Province (pop., 2000 est.: 7,870,000) and island of China.
With an area of 13,200 sq mi (34,300 sq km), the province also includes the Paracel and Spratly islands. It is located in the South China Sea , separated from Guangdong province by a narrow strait. For centuries part of Guangdong, Hainan became a separate province in 1988, the southernmost province of China and the smallest. Its capital is Haikou. It was under Chinese rule since the 2nd century BC but was not closely controlled until the Tang dynasty (AD 618907). Chinese began settling the island in the 12th13th centuries, gradually forcing the indigenous peoples into the interior. Hainan was occupied by the Japanese (193945), and it came under communist control in 1950. Although the government has tried to stimulate economic development there, it is one of China's less prosperous regions.