Guiyang
capital of Guizhou province, China
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province in the People's Republic of China. It is centrally located within the province, on the eastern part of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and sits on the north bank of the Nanming River, a tributary of the Wu River. The city is situated at an elevation of approximately 1,100 meters (3,600 ft) and covers an area of 8,034 square kilometers (3,102 sq mi). According to the 2020 census, Guiyang had a total population of 5,987,018, with 4,506,134 lived in its six urban districts. Despite being the capital of Guizhou, it is not the largest city in the province, which is Zunyi.
Guiyang has a humid subtropical climate and is surrounded by mountains and forests. The area has been inhabited since at least the Spring and Autumn period and officially became the provincial capital in 1413, during the Ming dynasty. The city is home to a significant Miao and Bouyei ethnic minority population.
Guiyang has a diversified economy, historically known for aluminum production, phosphate mining, and optical instrument manufacturing. Following economic reforms, the service sector now contributes the majority of the city's economic output.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Guiyang” as capital of Guizhou province, China. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as capital of Guizhou province, China. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q192271. VIAF identifies the subject as 129715651. The Library of Congress control number is n2005076546. Authority coordinates are 26.579, 106.708. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 1413.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Guiyang”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Guiyang primary sources, Guiyang archive and Guiyang research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Guiyang”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Guiyang” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.