Regional Demographic History of Shaanxi Province from the Founding of the People’s Republic of China to the Beginning of the Cultural Revolution (1949–1966)

The article is devoted to the consideration of events in the regional demographic history of the Chinese northwestern province of Shaanxi in the period between 1949 and 1966. The author uses historical and genetic research methods, which made it possible to identify cause-and-effect relationships and patterns of regional transformations in Shaanxi Province and demographic changes in this territory. The statistical method, also used by the author, contributed to the consideration of quantitative characteristics of the regional and demographic history of Shaanxi. The article identifies the conditions for the formation of one of the largest textile industrial bases of China in the Shaanxi Province. It emphasizes the role of machine-building in the evolution of the regional industrial sector of the province, shows the dynamics of agricultural production in Shaanxi, and identifies the problems in the agricultural sector. The author considers positive demographic changes in the province, among which are increased birth rates and decreased mortality rates, growth of population in general, and an influx of internal migrants from other Chinese regions into the province. The history of regional and demographic development of Shaanxi from 1949 to 1966 represents a series of events that led to the formation of a large industrial and agricultural base of Inner China in the conditions of acquiring the first experience of building a planned economy, innovative leap-like achievement of industrialization growth, and the formation of prerequisites for the transition to the policy of the Cultural Revolution.

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