Leizhou Peninsula
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Chinese Template:Coord The Leizhou Peninsula, alternately romanized as the Luichow Peninsula, is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in South China. As of 2015, the population of the peninsula was 5,694,245.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The largest city by population and area on the peninsula is Zhanjiang.
History
Trade was once welcoming at cities of Leizhou Peninsula.<ref name="Dennys1874">Template:Cite book</ref> During the 19th century, the area was a hotbed of piracy; many pirates such as Zheng Yi were based in the area.
Geography
The Leizhou Peninsula is the third largest peninsula in China with an area of c. Template:Convert located on the southwestern end of Zhanjiang, Guangdong with the Gulf of Tonkin to the west and the 30 km wide Qiongzhou Strait to the south, separating the peninsula from Hainan Island.
Geologically, basalt terraces account for 43% of the peninsula's area. The rest is divided up between marine terraces (27%) and alluvial plains (17%). Leizhou Peninsula is dotted with a few dormant volcanoes, beaches, and low-lying diluvial plains.
Leizhou has two separate volcanic fields: a Pleistocene–Holocene field at the northern end of the peninsula west of Zhanjiang Template:Nowrap Leibei Huoshanqun) and the northern end of the Qionglei or Leiqiong volcanic field, which extends across the strait into northern Hainan Template:Nowrap Leinan Huoshanqun). The volcanoes derive from the east-to-west tectonic extension and thinning of the lithosphere connected with the creation of the South China Sea's basin. Two Pleistocene-era basaltic stratovolcanoes are Yingfengling Template:Nowrap and Tianyang Template:Nowrap Template:Convert apart in the center of the peninsula.<ref>VolcanoDiscovery. "Leizhou Bandao volcano" [sic]. Accessed 24 Jul 2014.</ref> There is also a third volcanic field responsible for some of the islands offshore Template:Nowrap Huoshanyan Daoyu).
Wildlife
Hepu National Sanctuary of Dugongs was created west of the peninsula to protect endangered wildlife especially marine mammals. Vicinity to the peninsula, such as the Leizhou Bay has declared to be parts of the Chinese white dolphin sanctuary holding the second largest population in the nation.<ref>近千头中华白海豚栖息广东湛江雷州湾 Template:Webarchive</ref> Dugongs still occur in small number.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some Bryde's whales,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>2017. 刚刚铁山港附近海域，惊现多条鲸鱼。 Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>2016. 北海附近海域惊现庞大鲸鱼，画面感萌翻啦！[视频+多图] Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>2006. 俺在北部湾新拍到的鲸～(图) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>2009. 北部湾(2)_须鲸! Template:Webarchive</ref> minke whales, and whale sharks still occur in the adjacent waters including Hainan Island and Gulf of Tonkin waters such as off Tieshangang District, Islands of Weizhou and Xieyang.<ref>中华人民共和国濒危物种科学委员会. [濒危物种数据库 - 鳀鲸 Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1879]. the CITES. Retrieved on December 07. 2014</ref><ref>Wang Pei Lei (王丕烈). 1984. 中国近海鲸类的分布. 辽宁省海洋水产研究所 (Liaoning Ocean and Fisheries Science Research Institute). 中国知网 (the CNKI.NET). Retrieved on December 07. 2014</ref>
Critically endangered whales such as North Pacific right whales and western gray whales, humpback whales, and blue whales were once known to occur around the peninsula<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in the winter and spring to calve. Waters such as Wailuo Harbor were ideal habitats for these giants. These whales were heavily hunted and were wiped out by Japanese whalers in this regions. (Japanese whalers established whaling stations at various sites along the Chinese and Korean coasts including on the island of Hainan and at Daya Bay).
Climate
The peninsula has a humid subtropical climate. The region is under the influence of continental northeastern monsoons and maritime southeastern and southwestern monsoons. Typhoons occasionally occur, both from the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. Annual precipitation is Template:Convert.
Settlements
- Kouang Tchéou Wan, former French colony now located in Zhanjiang, a port city
See also
- Stone dogs in the Leizhou Peninsula
- Volcanoes of Leizhou at the German Wikipedia Template:In lang
References
External links
- Stone dogs in Leizhou Peninsula
- A map of the peninsula's volcanic fields Template:Webarchive from the Zhanjiang municipal website Template:In lang
Template:Guangdong topics Template:Peninsulas of China Template:Volcanoes of China Template:Authority control