Geographic location
Jilin Province is located at northern latitude 40 ° 52 '~ 46 ° 18', eastern longitude 121 ° 38' ~ 131 ° 19'. It is about 600 km from north to south and about 750 km from east to west. It is boarded by Liaoning Province on the south, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on the west, Heilongjiang Province on the north and Russian Federation on the east, and its southeast is on opposite side of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Jilin is an inland and border province near the sea. The border line has a total length of 1,438.7 km, of which, the Sino-DPRK border line is1,206 km and the Sino-Russian border line is 232.7 km. The shortest distance from Hunchun on the easternmost to the Sea of Japan and Russia’s Posyeta Bay is only 15 km and 4 km respectively.
Geographic and geomorphic conditions
The geographic and geomorphic conditions in Jilin Province are significantly different. Its topography is sloping from southeast to northwest and shows clear signs that the south east is high and the north west is low. It can be divided into two major landform areas including the eastern mountains and the central and western plains bounded by Daheishan in the central part. The eastern mountains are divided into the Changbai Mountain middle and low mountain areas and low-mountain hills, while the central and western plains are divided into the central terrace plain areas and the western meadow, lakes, wetlands and sand areas. Its major mountain ranges include Daheishan, Zhangguangcailing, Jilin Hadaling, Laoling and Mudanling, etc. Its major plains include Songnen Plain and Liaohe Plain.
Climatic characteristics
Jilin Province is located east of mid-latitude Eurasia, has a temperate continental monsoon climate and four distinctive seasons, with hot rainy season. It is dry and windy in spring, hot and rainy in summer, high sky and fine weather in autumn, and long cold in winter. From southeast to northwest, it sees humid climate to semi-humid climate and then to semi-arid climate, and the province's air temperature, precipitation, temperature, wind and weather disasters have a significant seasonal variation and regional difference. The province's average temperature is below -11℃ in winter, and normally above 23℃ in summer. The province’s temperature annual range is 35 ~ 42℃ and daily range is 10 ~ 14℃. The frost-free period in the whole year is generally 100 to 160 days. The province's annual average sunshine duration is 2259 ~ 3016 hours. The annual average precipitation is 400 to 600 mm, with significant seasonal and regional differences, of which 80% is concentrated in summer and the precipitation in the eastern part is the most abundant. In normal years, light, heat and moisture conditions can meet the needs of crop growth.
